Far, Far Away
by Battle Fries
Summary: Whisked away to another galaxy, Buffy and Faith train in the ways of the Force. While one learns the ways of the Jedi Order, the other trains to become a Dark Lord of the Sith. (Post-Chosen / Contemporary with The Old Republic / 300 Years Post-KOTOR) Rated M for language.
1. Buffy I - Peace is a Lie

**Buffy I - Peace is a Lie**

* * *

"Peace is a lie. There is only passion."

Buffy knew before she heard the rest of the Sith Code that it was completely false, but she humored Overseer Dalen regardless. The dark-haired, not-quite-middle-aged human man did hold her life in his hands.

"Through passion, we gain strength. Through strength, we gain power. Through power, we gain victory. Through victory, our chains are broken. The Force shall set us free."

Buffy pondered the words and decided that there was some truth to them, particularly the last line. She hadn't been in this universe or dimension or whatever for very long, but it was evident that she was sensitive to this 'Force,' whatever it was. Supposedly, if she could control it, she could be like a Slayer and a witch combined.

"Now then, Acolyte Summers," Overseer Dalen said, "tell me what you believe the Code of the Sith is meant to teach us."

Buffy was the only student assigned to Dalen at the moment, which seemed odd, given that he seemed to be held in low esteem at the Sith Academy on Korriban. Earning powerful students seemed to be a privilege, so either Buffy wasn't nearly as good as she thought she was, or else Dalen was playing a game of some sort. The Sith were all about power plays.

"Well," Buffy mused, "conflict is the norm, I'll give you that. You focus on the conflict for long enough, it becomes second nature to you. You let your passion feed your momentum into strength, then into power, and then into victory. And when you beat the other guy, you win."

"On a small scale, you may be right, Summers," Dalen said. "But the Code is more than just advice for how to win a petty brawl. You are right that conflict is the status quo, and conflict is fueled by passion. As Sith, we do not hide or run from this truth: we embrace it. We realize that through conflict – through passion – is the path to freedom over all things, be they people or institutions or even death itself. The Emperor is a testament to that."

"And this is all meant to be done alone?" Buffy asked. "From what I can tell, the Sith are solitary creatures. Power and freedom for one comes at the expense of everyone else, right? If that's true, then why are you even passing on your knowledge to others?"

"An astute observation," Dalen said approvingly. "You show remarkable insight for one of such low station, Summers. The Sith value the individual over the group, this is true. The Jedi would have you believe that empowering the weak strengthens the whole, but in truth it only serves to drag down the truly strong for the sake of the unworthy. As for why we teach others the ways of the Dark Side: we understand that the Emperor is truly a unique individual. He embodies the Sith, and we are all instruments of His will. To ensure that only the strongest, most capable of individuals endure to serve the Empire, we run you all through the gauntlet here on Korriban."

Buffy wasn't buying it. "So, the Sith never have any allies, then?"

"In a sense, Summers. The Sith seek power wherever they find it. Allies can prove valuable sources of power, but they can also turn on you. This holds true for mentors and students. One of the deepest traditions of the Sith is that of the student killing the Master and taking his place. It ensures that only the strong survive to pass on that very strength."

"So, let me get this straight," Buffy said. "An ally is only as useful as I can keep them under control or until they aren't useful anymore, and then they should be discarded, right?" The idea was both stupid and repugnant to the Slayer-turned-acolyte.

"Exactly. Take the Chiss Ascendancy for example. When the Empire came into their space, they recognized our superiority and offered an alliance in exchange for autonomy. Now, to be frank, the idea of alien allies is antithetical to Sith ideals, but so is turning away a source of power. The Chiss are a cunning people with a culture that has primed them for military service, and they recognize the merits of the individual. Subjugating them without need would cost the Empire time and resources, while an alliance gains us both soldiers and legitimacy among other non-human civilizations."

Now that sounded interesting. "You're saying that aliens should be treated equally?" Buffy tried to make herself sound surprised and repulsed at the notion of equality.

Dalen smirked. "It is one of several radical positions that has earned me such low esteem among my fellows. I share that in common with you, Summers. You were found on Denova with no knowledge of the Empire, the Republic, the Jedi, or anything resembling knowledge of galactic civilization. Most Sith saw you as weak, but I see your potential to be molded into something truly strong and deadly."

Buffy snorted. "In other words, I'm a tool for you to gain power, at least until I've outlived my usefulness."

Dalen smiled, and Buffy felt her spine crawl at that look. "Exactly. And to prove your usefulness, we come to your first trial here on Korriban. You've spent time in the archives, and you've listened to my lectures, but now you must prove yourself in combat. The Tomb of Ajunta Pall has been overrun by k'lor slugs, and their main nest is in the Tomb's armory. Make your way to the armory, destroy the infestation, and return with a blade befitting a warrior of your power. Your time with a training blade has run its course. Do you have any questions before I send you out there, Acolyte Summers?"

Buffy stood up from her cross-legged position and stretched her arms and legs. "Time limit?"

"None," Dalen replied crisply. "But if you return without that war blade, then your time is over. Understood?"

"Perfectly," Buffy said through gritted teeth. "Just point me in the direction of the sluggy goodness."

* * *

Buffy wiped the sweat from her forehead with a bloody hand after clearing the hall of the k'lor slugs. "All right, then. Take care of a few slugs, sure, no problem." Buffy had been expecting bugs that she could just step on if she had to. Monsters taller than her were not what she had in mind. Hell, their mouths were big enough to swallow her whole.

Her training blade was bloody and well-used, but showed no signs of breaking. It was made out of something called cortosis, which supposedly could withstand laser blasts. A few of the mature slugs spit slime, and Buffy had managed to move the blade to catch the slime before it hit her.

That was something else she'd not been expecting: the Force wasn't just something she had read about now. She could feel it coursing through and around her and everything she saw. It was like the universe was made of invisible stuff that needed just the right nudge to move in the way she wanted. She had already picked up how to detect incoming attacks a second before they hit, and now she was learning how to enhance her own strength and reflexes.

Something told her that the armory was just around the next torch-lit corner. Was it the Force? Whatever it was, a long set of stairs led up to it, and Buffy could tell without knowing how that there were five fully mature k'lor slugs in the room protecting dozens of eggs.

Without thinking, Buffy jumped. She felt the Force carry her through the air over the stairwell to bring her training sword straight down through the skull of one of the slugs. She felt hot blood stain her body, and it pissed her off.

A tiny little voice in the back of her mind said, 'Peace is a lie. There is only passion.'

In the heat of combat, Buffy felt the truth of the Sith Code. "Through passion," she said, slicing through another slug's neck, "I gain strength."

She leaped onto the back of a third slug. "Through strength…" Her blade sank into the creature's spine, paralyzing it, "I gain power."

Buffy felt it now. The power in this place wasn't just around her, it was inside her. "Through power," she growled as she thrust out an arm at another slug, crushing it against the wall, "I gain victory."

The last adult slug moved forward to devour her. "Through victory," Buffy yelled as she thrust her blade into the k'lor slug's mouth, penetrating its brain, "my chains are broken."

Buffy let go of her training blade and felt for the strongest source of power in the room. Without thinking, she reached out a hand and summoned a wicked-looking serrated war-blade to her, grasping it by the hilt.

Lifting up her sword into the air, she brought it down into the ground and sent a shockwave through the room, breaking all the eggs and killing the k'lor slugs inside.

"The Force shall set me free."

Buffy felt as if she was floating on air. The power she felt, that she had just used, was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Was this what being Willow felt like?

The elation of victory powered Buffy's battered body through the tomb and back out onto the sands to the Academy. The sky told her that she'd been out for a full day, at least. She didn't feel tired at all. "Through victory, my chains are broken," she said again.

* * *

As she passed through the dark corridors of the Sith Academy, Buffy felt eyes on her. Other students, and even some instructors, could not help but recognize the walking body covered from head to toe in purple blood. Buffy could sense that she was being assessed as a potential future adversary. Remembering that she stood in a hall filled with rivals, Buffy made sure to stride purposefully and carry herself with her head held high. She might be new to the Force, but she was no stranger to looking strong in the face of adversity.

Winding her way through the passages, Buffy found herself at Overseer Dalen's study. The elation from her victory over the slugs was fading, and now she was fully aware of the stench of blood and innards on her body. And then the memory of the bloodlust as she killed the slugs returned, and Buffy felt even dirtier. She reassured herself that she felt good killing vamps and demons all the time, and these were just other monsters.

But a part of her didn't want to admit that the Sith were right. The idea of being friendless and alone in a mad rush for power was just so alien. Enjoying that, however indirectly, seemed wrong to her.

Still, Buffy was stuck here, so she knocked on Dalen's door. It swung open seemingly on its own, but Buffy knew that the Overseer had used the Force to open it.

She walked in and plopped the bloody war-blade on Dalen's desk, dirtying many a datapad and paper document in the process.

Dalen did not look up. "Well done, Summers. Go and rid the stink from yourself and then return to me. Then we will see to the proper care of your new blade. Go now."

Buffy didn't like the cool dismissal in his tone, but Dalen was a strange Sith. He wasn't particularly cruel or malicious, but he did have exacting standards and a low tolerance for disobedience. She'd once had her voice robbed from her while restrained in a chair while Dalen lectured her. He was powerful for someone who was only an Overseer. From what Buffy understood, he could be a weak Sith Lord if he was a more proper Sith.

Not wanting to incur Dalen's wrath, Buffy simply nodded and took her blade with her. She didn't want it out of her sight. As she turned around, she thought she recognized the battleground she'd been 'found' on. The Sith had taken her as a prisoner on Denova during a battle with the Republic, and for all the time she'd been here on Korriban, Buffy hadn't forgotten the most important question that had to be answered.

What had happened to Faith?

* * *

I don't own anything.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas.

The Old Republic belongs to EA, BioWare, and LucasArts.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the story!


	2. Faith I - There is No Emotion

**Faith I - There is No Emotion**

* * *

"There is no emotion, there is peace."

Faith knew before she heard the rest of the Jedi Code that it was completely false, but she humored Master Ralto regardless. The blue-skinned, male Nautolan did save her life, after all. Kinda.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force."

Faith pondered the words and decided that it was utter bull, save for maybe the last line. She hadn't been in this universe or dimension or whatever for very long, but it was evident that she was sensitive to this 'Force,' whatever it was. Supposedly, if she could control it, she could be like a Slayer and a witch combined.

"Now then, Padawan Lehane," Master Ralto said, "what do you believe the Jedi Code is meant to teach us?"

Faith felt incredibly awkward in the center of the classroom, filled with other students of all ages and of so many different species, none of which she recognized. Tython was no Sunnydale or Boston, but she'd had enough of high school to last a lifetime. "I dunno," Faith said. "We're supposed to just turn off our emotions and let the Force take control or somethin'? The world doesn't work like that, Ra… Master Ralto."

The Nautolan Jedi Master smiled at Faith's near-slip. She wasn't used to calling anyone 'master' for any reason, but she gave the Jedi his due respect for subduing her and calming her down peaceably after she'd tried to kill him, and then forgiven her. Not a lot of people Faith had met would be that generous, but Master Ralto was an all right guy.

"It is not like that, Padawan Lehane, but I can see how a new initiate might get that perception."

Faith resented the title of 'Padawan' even more than calling all the Jedi here 'Master This' or 'Jedi That.' It just sounded so Sesame Street to her. "Then what is it like?" she asked, trying not to snarl.

Ralto smiled serenely and paced at the front of the classroom. "Jedi calm their emotions to avoid distractions and attachment. We must remain impartial in order to be proper peacekeepers. By refusing to accept ignorance, we seek out what we do not know and make it part of our knowledge. Jedi must be ruled by logic. Passion clouds our judgment, and so we seek calm at all times. Chaos can reign over others, but if we accept that there will always be some things over which we have no control, then we will reach a state of harmony with ourselves."

"What about that last part, Master Ralto?" Faith asked. "How is there 'no death?' That's not possible, unless you believe what the Sith say about the Emperor."

At this, some of the younger students began whispering loudly amongst themselves. Faith realized that some of the kids probably didn't know much about the Sith or their Empire.

Master Ralto remained calm and closed his eyes. A feeling of peace fell over the classroom, and Faith felt herself relax as the room went quiet. When she realized that Ralto was casting some sort of spell over the class to calm them down, she felt her anger spike inside of her.

"When we say 'there is no death,'" Ralto explained, "we do not mean that death is not a real thing. It is simply not the end of existence. The Force is in and a part of all things. When we die, our bodies, minds, and spirits do not leave the Force, and the Force does not leave them. We continue on, but in another form. It may not be a form with consciousness or physical being, but we all endure through the Force, which then gives life to all other things. Thus, all life is eternal, from a certain point of view."

Faith wasn't done. "You say the Jedi are 'peacekeepers.' We're supposed to stay impartial and keep the balance, yadda yadda yadda. And yet, you all carry laser swords and train for war while the Sith want to wipe you all out. How do you stay 'impartial peacekeepers' with all of that going on?"

Ralto sighed, and Faith detected a hint of impatience. "The galaxy was not always at war. Before the Sith invaded, we had three centuries of peace throughout the galaxy. There was a war three hundred years ago that we only now understand to be a precursor to this invasion. The Jedi strive for a galaxy at peace, and when that happens, we will act to keep that peace. But the central tenet of the Sith Empire is that peace cannot exist. So long as such evil exists, it must be the duty of the Jedi to oppose them at any cost.

"And by 'oppose,'" Faith said, "you mean you have to kill them all, right?"

"Not necessarily," Ralto said. "Might I have a moment in private, Padawan Lehane?"

Faith nodded and rose from her seat at the desk. She whispered a brief apology to the class at large and went out into the hallway.

"Look, Master Ralto, I'm…"

"I know, I know. You're sorry and you didn't mean to cause trouble. I understand, Faith. You come from a life full of much conflict, and you are quite set in your ways. Most Jedi come to train very young. You are old for a Padawan, but full of potential. There is darkness in your past, but also a great yearning for good and for justice. I sense you will accomplish much, but perhaps a classroom is not the proper venue for your training."

Faith laughed at that, and Ralto smiled along with her. "You got that right. So, what do you think I should do?"

"Why don't you take a taxi out to the training grounds in the Gnarls and let the Masters there teach you how to swing that practice sword that you've been itching to use."

"What? I thought you were all about peace and not hitting stuff."

Ralto took a deep breath. "The sad truth is that the Jedi are in need of capable warriors, and you are quite capable already. Perhaps in learning the forms of the lightsaber, you will come to know our ways better. May the Force be with you, Faith."

"Right back at ya, Master Ralto."

Faith turned to leave the confines of the Jedi Temple, and for a moment, she thought she could sense Ralto shaking his head and smiling, his head tresses shaking as he went back to his classroom. She was looking directly away from him, but she still knew that he'd been doing just that. Was this the Force at work?

* * *

Hopping into a droid-piloted speeder, Faith felt the air rush by her as she was driven up a dirt road to an open grassy area beneath tall, snowy mountains.

A Jedi was immediately upon her. "Padawan! What are you doing here?!" the human woman exclaimed. "The training grounds aren't safe! Didn't our messenger reach the Temple?"

"Dunno," Faith answered. "Maybe not yet. What's the problem? Can I help?"

"No, not unless you're prepared to take on a small army of Flesh Raiders."

Faith's hand went to the handle of her practice sword. "What's a Flesh Raider, and how do I kill one?"

"Peace, Padawan," the Jedi woman said, though she was clearly ill at ease. "I recognize you, now. You're Master Ralto's student. The one he found on Denova, yes?"

"Yeah, that's what they tell me," Faith said.

"Hm. You might be able to hold your own. Until reinforcements arrive, we have to consolidate our forces. Last I heard, a group of Padawans was trapped in the mountains by a gang of Flesh Raiders. They're Tython's natives, and they are a nasty sort. They're smart enough to use blasters and blades, and they eat their kills. I'll mark the position where the Padawans were last seen on your map. Normally, I wouldn't send you alone, but right now, we have no choice."

"Don't worry about me," Faith said. "I'll find 'em and bring them back nice and safe."

The Jedi woman breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope your task goes smoothly. Be safe, and may the Force be with you."

Faith held out her wrist, which had a holo-generator on it, showing her a map of the area. She had to get across a bridge and then cross a river to get where she was going.

Breathing in more than air, Faith felt a power flow through her, as if the energy of Tython's ground itself were filling her with life and vitality. With a burst of speed, Faith took off faster than she'd ever run before.

When she got to the bridge, she saw a group of three ugly, hammer-headed things with guns in their hands. They saw her and started firing with horrific war cries.

Faith didn't know what to think of them, other than how hideous they looked. They were the enemy, and they weren't human, but a lot of things weren't human in this universe. Could she kill these things and not be a murderer?

As she deflected their blaster bolts without even thinking of it consciously, she felt a calm come over her as she sensed the evil inside of them. She saw without seeing the blood dripping from their lips, and she knew that they were creatures of darkness.

Faith could almost hear Master Ralto's kind voice telling her, 'There is no emotion, there is peace.'

The Flesh Raiders were just barely more than feral, and yet they weren't mindless monsters. Faith's blade ended their lives quickly and painlessly. She didn't want to be a murderer, but she wasn't about to stand by and let anyone else kill if she could help it.

Faith crossed the bridge and waded into the river, swimming downstream a bit and then coming up on the other side. She was no tracker, and she couldn't see a path on the map from where she was now to where the Padawans had been.

A small ridge of rocks lay off to the side, and Faith realized that it didn't have to be a boundary to her. "There is no ignorance," she said, jumping over the meters-high wall with ease. "There is knowledge."

Finding a path, Faith walked up it until she came upon a roughly-made metal cage with a dead Jedi child inside. A hot anger swelled up inside Faith, and she wanted to kill the monster that had done this.

But there was no Flesh Raider near the cage, and Faith realized that there was nothing she could do here to change things. "There is no passion," she realized. "There is serenity."

Further along the path, Faith was ambushed by five Flesh Raiders wielding swords and staves. Before she could react, Faith was huddling up to protect herself from the slashes and beatings that she was receiving. She wanted to lash out, but the blows were coming so fast that she couldn't get a clear read on which opponent was where and how they were positioned.

A soothing feeling overtook Faith, healing her wounds and clearing her head. The Force was aiding her, she realized. "There is no chaos," she whispered, just as she let out a burst of energy, throwing her opponents all backward and to the ground. "There is harmony," she said, standing up and continuing on the path.

At the end, she saw three young Padawans, and one of them was injured. "There you are!" Faith said. "Are you guys all right?"

"We're fine," a human girl said. "Walt took a blaster bolt from a Flesh Raider, but we took it down. We can stay and fight."

"That is not what the Jedi Code teaches us," a horned Zabrak male said.

"I gotta agree," Faith said. "You're Walt, right? You are not gonna die on my watch, you hear me?"

Faith picked up the injured boy and carried him over her shoulder. "You are not going to die. There is no death, just the Force, you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you," the kid said.

"Atta boy. Let's get you back to the Temple. I got a beacon here that can signal a pickup at a clearing nearby. Just a little bit further, hang on."

* * *

Faith stood outside the walls of the Jedi Temple as the medics took Walt and his friends inside to the infirmary. They were good kids, and she hoped they'd be okay.

"That was a very brave thing you did for those Padawans," a woman's voice said.

Faith turned to see a grey-haired female human in a sleeveless black tunic. "Thank you… Um, sorry. I don't know what to call you, and you're not dressed like most Jedi."

The woman smirked with wry humor. "I'm Grand Master Satele Shan. I suppose with rank comes privilege, even among the Jedi. It's not something I think about much, but perhaps I should. It's Faith, right?"

"Yes, Master. So, um, if you don't mind my asking, what's the Grand Master of the Jedi Order doing here? Shouldn't you be directing the rescue efforts or coordinating the war with the Sith or something?"

"The Force is a tool for knowledge and defense," Master Shan said. "We don't attack in aggression, ever. You engaged in battle today, and you took responsibility for yourself, for your charges, and even for your enemies. Those are the signs of a wise woman. A wise Jedi, I would say."

"Yeah, I'm all right," Faith said with a smirk of her own.

Master Shan smiled. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk with you privately later this evening about today's events, and also about finding you on Denova if at all possible."

Faith nodded. "Yeah, sure thing."

"Very well," Satele Shan said. "I will see you then."

As the Grand Master walked away into the Temple, thoughts of Denova came back to Faith, and she couldn't help but be reminded of the one thing that hadn't left her mind at all since arriving on Tython.

Where the hell was Buffy?


	3. Buffy II - Social Contracts

**Buffy II - Social Contracts**

* * *

Buffy strode into Overseer Dalen's new study and whistled at the change in scenery from his old haunt. It was a far larger space with a nice, big window overlooking the Valley of the Dark Lords. The desk was unlike anything Buffy had seen before. Yes, it was a desk, but the carvings in it almost looked like runes, only they weren't in the Aurek-Besh language that she'd come to associate with this universe.

"Ah, come in Acolyte Summers," Dalen said, clearly in a good mood. "Your little jaunt in the Tomb of Ajunta Pall has reaped many benefits."

"Which is why you sent me there in the first place," Buffy realized. "If I died, I was of no use to you, but if I succeeded – which I did with flying colors, thank you very much – then you would get the credit and recognition that we all know you deserve for training me so well."

"You are starting to think like a Sith," Dalen said approvingly. "This is very good. Sit down. We have much to discuss."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, but took the seat across from the Overseer. "You're being awfully familiar with me, Overseer," she noted.

"Well, most Sith would simply take the credit they felt they were due and leave it at that, but I owe my higher stature to your success more than anything else. As such, I feel it is necessary to reevaluate our situation."

"Let me guess," Buffy said sarcastically, "this is where you hammer home the point that you're the teacher, I'm the student, and I'm not supposed to get any wild ideas about killing you and taking your place, right?"

"Correct, to a point," Dalen said. "Since you have already disclosed one purpose of this discussion, I shan't bore you with needless intimidation. You make a reasonably compliant student, and you are intelligent enough to know that I am still your better in the ways of the Force. No, we must consult on where to go from here. The clearing of the Tomb of Ajunta Pall was a task that was expected to require the sacrifice of many platoons of Imperial soldiers. You've spared the Empire a great deal of time and resources, and have reopened to us a great source of ancient knowledge."

"Uh, you're welcome?" Buffy said skeptically.

"Quite," Dalen said drolly. "Whenever another Sith sends their acolytes into that Tomb, they will know that it is only by your power that they are able to do so. We have made a bold move, but that boldness has called out our strength to the entire Academy, and that strength will be seen by many as a challenge."

"Aren't students forbidden from killing each other?" Buffy asked. "I mean, it sounds like you're telling me to watch out, but do I really need to worry about that?"

Dalen snorted. "I thought you were smarter than that, Summers. That rule is the official word, but as Sith, you must learn to read between the lines. You can only be punished if you leave proof to show that you are the guilty party. The true rule is that no acolyte shall kill another and be caught doing so. You will need to be on your guard. Self-defense is permissible."

Buffy simply nodded to indicate that she understood. There was a silent understanding between the two of them as to when the Overseer wanted a reply and when he didn't. Buffy had run enough menial errands for higher-ranked Sith Lords to know that Dalen was far smarter than many Sith, and she figured that he was probably working his way to become a full-fledged Lord.

"Your mastery of the war-blade is spectacular, given your limited time with it. It is merely a stepping stone, however, to the true weapon of a Sith: the lightsaber. It is typical for the most promising apprentices to retrieve rare and ancient weapons from the Tombs, or else from rival acolytes. For you, however, I have something else in mind. A Sith's weapon is not merely a tool. In combat, a lightsaber becomes an extension of the self. You must be as intimately familiar with it as you are with your own body. For that reason, you will construct your own lightsaber, and I will present it to you upon the completion of your trials on Korriban."

Buffy felt her eyes widen. "You mean your glowy-sword-things? I have no idea how that technology works. Any technology, really. I'd probably blow something up trying."

Dalen waved away her concerns with a brush of his hand. "The components you are most unfamiliar with will be assembled beforehand. There is some leeway that I will allow you, given your lack of technical expertise and unfamiliarity with our lettering. Which brings me to another topic I want to discuss with you: I want you to teach me your language."

Buffy couldn't help but laugh. "You want to learn the alphabet? We do understand each other, don't we?"

"We do. Your language is close enough to Basic that I can understand you as though you had a Corellian accent. Perhaps it is some subtle working of the Force that we can understand each other. But I want to know your written language. The time may come when we will need to encode our work, and if we can use characters that no others are familiar with, then we will gain an advantage."

"And while I teach you English," Buffy said, following her train of thought, "you'll be teaching me… What is it called? Aurek-Besh?"

"Precisely! Oh, there are so many Sith who must be wondering how a being from a primitive world such as Denova could be so cunning and powerful. You are an anomaly, Summers, though few realize just how much of one. Be cautious with need, bold with opportunity, and you will go very far."

Buffy didn't know how far she needed to go, but once she found Faith, then she'd head as far as it took to get back home.

* * *

Buffy was looking for a brain.

It was a testament to how crazy her life had been up until now that she did not question the sanity of the Sith Lord who had sent her into the Tomb of Marka Ragnos to retrieve the brain of a beast that he had experimented on. The guy was clearly crazy, but Buffy knew that he had earned his 'Lord' title somehow, and she didn't want to test his patience. So, she found herself battling through a tomb full of tuk'ata – monstrous, dog-like beasts with large horns – to find the one mutated version with a brain she needed to retrieve.

A moment before her Slayer's hearing picked up on the voices, the Force alerted her to two others ahead of her.

"-insane, I tell you! I thought the k'lor slugs were all gone from the tombs!" a young woman shouted.

"They're all over Korriban, Malra. Get used to it. And it was only Ajunta Pall's tomb that got cleared out. Some new blood who doesn't know her own reach." This voice belonged to a young man.

"You really think one person could do that, Telran? One acolyte? We barely survived three k'lor slugs. What if there's more?"

"It doesn't matter, does it? Either we retrieve that tablet, or Loslar kills us when we come back empty-handed. Let's just get it over with."

"Shouldn't we go to the Overseer? Y'know, tell him that Loslar has us doing his dirty work for him?"

"You know that wouldn't work, Malra. They'd just say that it was… Oh, no. More slugs!"

Buffy decided that now was as good a time to stop eavesdropping and join the fight. These kids didn't sound like they were cut out to be Sith, and anyone else at the Academy would have left them to die.

Buffy wasn't anyone else.

With the Force powering her, she leaped down the stairs into the dark of the tomb and hacked away at the k'lor slugs. There was some illumination from a number of crystal lanterns, but the Force was all the vision that Buffy needed. How she'd ever lived without it, she didn't know.

After forty seconds, a small brood of k'lor slugs was dead, and Buffy reached a hand to either of the two other acolytes. "You guys all right?"

Malra and Telran both leaped back and drew their own training blades. "Back off!"

Buffy held up her hands. "Whoa, chill out! I just saved your lives, in case you didn't notice. When did people stop saying 'thank you' for stuff like that?"

Telran was a red-skinned pure-blooded Sith, and he stepped in front of Malra, who was a dark-skinned human. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Buffy replied. "I'm looking for a mutant tuk'ata so I can take its brain back to Lord Renning. I'm not here to kill you, or to hurt you, or to maim you, etcetera, etcetera, and so forth."

Malra gestured wildly at Buffy. "That's her! She's the one who cleared out Ajunta Pall's tomb!"

Telran kept his blade raised, but he held steady. "Is that true?"

"It's true," Buffy said. "And if you don't try to kill me, I won't try to kill you. And while we're on the subject of people killing each other, I overheard you talking about some problems with a guy called Loslar."

Telran spit on the ground. "He comes from a noble family. Can trace his lineage back to the Great Hyperspace War, so he gets preferential treatment. Has a bunch of other acolytes do his dirty work while he takes all the credit. He's a coward and a disgrace to all Sith!"

"Keep your voice down!" Buffy hissed. "Your shouting earlier was what drew the slugs, so let's keep it quiet."

"Right. Sorry. He's not the most powerful acolyte, but he's got a few cronies who are hoping to benefit from family connections once he becomes a Lord. Together, they can back up their threats."

"Huh." Buffy felt a tug at the back of her mind, and she knew that the mutant tuk'ata was not far away. "I'll tell you what. You help me with this tuk'ata, and I'll help you with Loslar."

"Why are you even offering to help?" Malra asked softly. "You're powerful, far more than we are. And it's no good denying it, Telran. What do you gain from helping us?"

"What do I gain from letting you die?" Buffy countered. If these two were going to think like Sith, then Buffy would have to relate to them. "Look, if you're dead, then you're of no use to me. Alive, you can be my eyes and ears in places where I can't go. I can protect you if you work with me. Understand now?"

Before either of the other acolytes could answer, the roar of a tuk'ata sounded from not far away, and Buffy felt it in the Force, but slightly off. This was the mutant she was seeking.

"All right. I'll draw it's attention and keep it off of you. While I make it mad, you take off its legs and stab it in the spine if you can, okay?"

Buffy drew her blade and felt the monster rushing closer, smelling fresh meat.

It came soaring through the air, claws extended and mouth wide. Buffy leaped into the air and kicked the beast into the wall, then pulled on it just a bit with the Force.

It roared and came at her, but Buffy stood her ground and bounced away from each deadly claw, swiping at its head to try to wound it through its thick hide.

The tuk'ata began snapping at its rear as the Telran and Malra began hacking at its legs. Buffy punched it in the side of its head to get its attention, and she barely missed getting her arm bitten off.

A moment later, the beast roared in pain as its hind right leg gave out. Seconds later, its hind left leg was cut out from under it. Buffy leaped onto the tuk'ata's back and drove her war-blade through its spine. It wriggled and writhed for a few seconds before keeling over, dead.

"Whew. You guys okay?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. We're fine," Malra said. "You fought that thing with your fists and feet! How did you do that?"

"She's more powerful than we realized," Telran said, and before Buffy could protest, he bent to one knee.

Buffy didn't want anyone kneeling before her, but Malra was following suit. "What is this?"

"We pledge our lives to you and your glory, my Lord," Telran said. "We offer ourselves as your apprentices, to be extensions of your will."

"Whoa, hold on!" Buffy said. "I'm just an acolyte here, myself. A-and I'm not even from around here! The world they found me on, Denova… It was just recently discovered. I'm flying blind once I get out of here."

"We'll teach you all that you need to know," Malra said. "We will introduce you to the Empire, my Lord. Will you introduce us to true power?"

Buffy wanted to protest, but she could do nothing to change their attitudes. Theirs was a culture of dominance and submission, and not the fun kind, either. She could work with them to a degree, but she'd have to be careful.

"All right. I, uh, accept you as my apprentices. First things first, no one outside this room ever knows of this. Understand? You tell nobody, you act as if nothing strange happened here. Got it?"

"Yes, Master," they said as one.

Buffy recoiled a bit at being addressed in such a way. "Wow. Uh, you may rise?"

The two acolytes rose to their feet. "What would you have us do, Master?" Malra asked.

"Help me cut open this thing's head. I have a container to store the brain in. After that, we look for your tablet and then work out a way to deal with Loslar. Sound good to you?"

"My Lord," Telran said, "it would be my genuine pleasure."

* * *

Buffy stood alone in the dark of an underground corridor of the Sith Academy, waiting for Loslar to show. He'd arranged a rendezvous for Telran and Malra to hand over the tablet, which had been found in a chamber not too far from where they'd slain the mutant tuk'ata.

She simultaneously heard and felt footsteps approaching. Two sets of heavy feet, one light. Turning to face them, Buffy found herself looking at a scrawny red-skinned Sith Pureblood with prominent cheek tendrils, flanked by two other pureblooded Sith who were probably twins. Both had very prominent eyebrow ridges that were remarkably similar, and they even dressed alike.

"Who are you?" the scrawny one demanded.

"You Loslar?"

"I am," the punk said imperiously. "Where are Malra and Telran?"

"Dead," Buffy said nonchalantly. "They had this really cool-looking tablet-thingy that they told me you wanted so badly that you'd kill for it. I figured that I'd save you the trouble of taking on two guys at once and take the tablet for myself."

Loslar smirked. "And you wanted to offer it to me in the hopes of gaining an alliance, is that it?"

"Hm, not really," Buffy said. "Y'know what I think? I think a true Sith would know that through strength, he gains power. I think you're more along the lines of 'through weakness, I gain prestige.'"

Loslar's eyes widened, as though nobody had ever dared spoken to him this way before. Nobody probably ever had. "You think to challenge me, girl?"

"I think that a real Sith would take what he wanted himself instead of sending lackeys to do his bidding. But they're dead now, and I have the tablet. Tell me: what will your master do to you when you don't give it to him?"

Loslar bristled at the implication. "Sappa, Laffa, make her talk," he snarled.

The twin Sith advanced on Buffy, but she jumped over their heads and landed behind Loslar, pulling her war-blade out and holding its serrated edge to Loslar's throat. "No, I don't think we'll be doing that. Will we, Sappa? Laffa?"

"Put down your weapons!" Loslar yelled hysterically. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Buffy asked innocently. "I want to walk out of here alive. And I want you to recognize who your betters are." Loslar was Sith, and this was how to get to him. "You're weak, Loslar. You're too weak to search the tombs yourself, and you're too weak to intimidate others on your own. You have the twins here, who I'm sure revere you for your family's money, right? They figure you'll coast along to Lordship on your name alone, right? Only it doesn't work that way. Sith aren't born; they're made. Forged, even. You are nothing. Do you hear me?"

The twins didn't advance, but looked on with amused faces. Loslar merely whimpered.

"Tell me what you are, Loslar," Buffy asked with false sweetness. When he didn't answer, she pressed her blade a bit further into his neck. "What are you?"

"Nothing!" he cried out. "You're my better! I swear it! I'll do whatever you want!"

"All right, then. Here's what you're going to do. Nothings aren't cut out to be Sith. You're going to contact your noble family and plead with them to let their beloved son come home. His instructors have him doing the most menial of tasks that are beneath a Sith of his stature, and despite all his protests, they won't challenge him as a Sith should be challenged. You'll be called home to partake in whatever Sith high society is like, and should you ever be called upon by someone called 'Sunhome,' then you will do whatever that person says. Am I understood?"

"Y-yes! Yes, I'll leave as soon as I can!"

"Good boy. And you two, the twins? How loyal are you to this bozo here?"

"He was a path to power," one of them said. "Now he is, as you said, nothing."

"You heard the man," Buffy said to Loslar. "Get out of here. Go on, skedaddle. Move it!"

Loslar scurried out of the dark corridor as fast as he could.

"You could lead us to more power," the other twin pondered. Buffy couldn't keep them separate in her mind, and was now thinking of them as Left Twin and Right Twin.

"But if we kill you now," Right Twin said, "we remove a powerful rival."

"And there are no witnesses to implicate either of us."

"We could kill you now."

"Easily."

Buffy smirked. "No, you couldn't. If you could have killed me, you wouldn't still be talking. I also think you still need that tablet, or else your master won't be happy one bit. So, you can try to beat me into telling you where it is, or you can kill me and spend a long, long time looking for it."

The twins seemed to think as one, for which Buffy was grateful. She didn't want to kill if she could help it. Part of her looked at them as red-skinned demons, but another part saw them as people. Buffy did not want to become a murderer.

"I'll make you a deal," Buffy offered. "I hand over the tablet, you let me walk away, and then we can go back to being rivals tomorrow. Right now, you don't know if you can take me without losing your tablet, and I don't know if I can take both of you on without dying. Also, you don't know where the tablet is. I may not have even brought it with me."

The twins looked at each other, and then they both nodded. "You have a deal," Left Twin said.

"All righty, then!" Buffy said in a too-chipper voice. "Let's all walk out of here together, and then I'll hand it over to you."

Buffy began walking back up towards the main level of the Academy, and she noticed the twins flanking her. They didn't want her pulling any mischief.

Once they reached the main level, Buffy led Sappa and Laffa over to a corner where she dislodged a loose stone and removed the tablet from a hidden compartment. It was wrapped in a black cloth to protect it.

Left Twin and Right Twin switched places, and the new Right Twin removed the cloth while Left Twin examined the tablet.

They turned to Buffy, nodded, and headed off.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Overseer Dalen?"

"Yes, Acolyte Summers, I did. You should know that I know you went into the lower levels last night, and I know that a well-connected student named Loslar came out of those passages afraid for his life. He is petitioning to leave the academy."

Buffy shrugged. "There's a lot of space down there. Maybe he saw something that scared him."

"Maybe he did," Dalen agreed, not questioning Buffy's statement. "I've also heard that two of Loslar's lackeys, Sappa and Laffa Falos, presented a tablet presumably found in the Tomb of Marka Ragnos to Overseer Sadin, who locked up both twins upon discovering markings on the tablet that show it to be from the Academy's archives."

"Huh. So, they stole something from the archives to show off as the real thing, only the Overseer caught on? Sucks to be them."

"Yes, indeed," Dalen said, smiling. "I went and examined the tablet upon its return to the archives and checked it out for personal study. I could not help but notice that the markings denoting it as archival were only recently added. Less than a day ago, I would judge. And the writings on the tablet… Well, they are most intriguing."

Buffy shrugged. "A mystery that will likely remain unsolved for years to come."

Dalen chuckled and openly smiled. "No one will miss an archived tablet being used for background study. Again, I have you to thank for my sudden good fortune. This knowledge will most certainly be beneficial."

"As you gain power, then so do I, Overseer."

"You understand things well, Acolyte. I will call upon you later. Go and spend your allotted time in the archives, and be sure not to remove anything that ought not be removed.

"Yes, Overseer."

Buffy left Dalen's study and headed to the archives, a massive room full of shelves of scrolls, tomes, tablets, and holocrons full of ancient knowledge and philosophy.

Pulling out a pad of some sort of paper, Buffy sat down and took a writing stylus from a container in the center of the desk.

Two chairs were pulled out and were promptly sat in. Buffy smiled. "Telran, Malra, so glad you could make it. Now, you have some things to teach me, don't you?"

"Yes, Master."


	4. Faith II - Pilgrimage

**Faith II - Pilgrimage**

* * *

"Of all the stories I expected to hear, I can't say I anticipated that," Grand Master Satele Shan said with awe.

"It's the truth," Faith said. She was joining the Jedi Order's Grand Master for an evening meal after the earlier ordeal with the Flesh Raiders. "One second, I'm on the Earth, my home. The next, I'm in the middle of a warzone on a planet that everyone tells me is called Denova. I'm there with my… God, what do I call B? She's like a friend and a sister and something else. I dunno how to describe our relationship, but we were both there. We got separated. I saw Master Ralto coming at me with a laser sword and thought he was a demon trying to kill me."

"Because your world has never met life from another planet," Satele added.

"Right. So, I try to attack Master Ralto with a shovel, somehow managing to avoid getting myself or my weapon sliced by his laser sword, and he shoves me to the ground without even touching me. Used the Force or whatever. Your boys in white armor put me in chains, but Ralto sought me out, let me go and took me with him. He's a good guy."

"Yes, he is," Satele agreed. "I wonder if we can locate your planet. What can you tell me about it?"

Faith felt herself squirm inside. "I, uh, I'm not gonna be much help. I wasn't ever really the school type. I can tell you that it's mostly water, it's the third rock from the sun, it has a moon… That's about it, really."

"How many other planets are there?" Satele asked patiently.

"There are nine total, I think, but some idiots tried to say that the last one isn't technically a planet. Oh! The ninth planet's orbit overlaps with the eighth one! Thank you, plastic childhood teaching placemat!"

Satele arched an eyebrow at the last exclamation, but said nothing about it. "Well, it's not a lot to go on. I'll do what I can, but I can't promise much. I'm sorry, Faith."

"Don't sweat it, Sa… Grand Master," Faith said, not used to being with such important people.

For her part, Master Shan didn't seem to take it the wrong way. "Thank you for your understanding. I believe Master Ralto was looking for you. He's in his meditation chambers."

"Thanks, Master. May the Force be with you." Faith felt strange saying it, but it seemed to be the proper way to say goodbye to a Jedi.

Satele took it in the spirit offered and bowed her head. "May the Force be with you as well."

Faith bowed her head and took off for Master Ralto's room.

She knocked gently, despite the door being ajar. The blue Nautolan was hovering in the air with his eyes closed, but he unfolded his legs and stood up to speak with Faith. "Ah, thank you for coming. This is urgent, so we should speak quickly."

"Sure thing, boss," Faith said, forgetting the Jedi Master's title.

He let it slide. "First of all, well done with the Padawans in the Gnarls. That took some serious skill and fortitude."

Faith nodded. "Gave me a better idea about that Code you were trying to teach me."

"And I am glad of that, but now your talents are needed elsewhere."

"My talents?" Faith was very confused. "I'm no Master. I'm still a potty-one, whatever that is, and not by choice, may I remind you."

"Your strength in the Force is too great to allow to remain untamed. You could be a dangerous enemy, Faith."

"Ha! Master Ralto, I am a dangerous enemy. Just not your enemy."

"I recognize that, and I believe that your lack of preconceptions about our galaxy will give you insight where the rest of us see no solutions. There is a settlement nearby, you see. A group of Twi'lek pilgrims settled in Kalikori Village, but the settlement was not sanctioned by the Republic, and they have asked us not to intervene in Twi'lek affairs, so as not to validate their settlement."

Faith shook her head. "You lost me. What's the point?"

"The point, Padawan Lehane, is that these illegal settlers are being attacked by Flesh Raiders, and the Jedi have been obligated to ignore the problem. It was only recently brought to my attention that one of the pilgrims may have unearthed a dangerous relic, and now we must mend ties in order to gain their cooperation."

"Ugh. Let me get this straight," Faith said, audibly aggravated. "These guys came here peacefully, right? They needed protection, which you didn't give them. Now they have something you need, and you want me to go and help you get it. That about right?"

"I did not say that it was an ideal situation, nor did I say we made the right decisions. It is what it is, and we have to deal with it."

Faith sighed for deliberate dramatic effect. "What do you want me to do?"

"You will need to aid in the defense of the village, and help to organize the Twi'leks so that they can more properly defend themselves. The handling of the relic will be left to others. I suggest that you undergo a local ritual to see the settlers' matriarch before you do anything else. It should earn you some level of respect, as it is considered a rite of passage for outsiders."

Faith nodded. "Anything else?"

"Trust your instincts and your feelings, Faith. I know that you are a woman of deep passions, regardless of how the Jedi Order would have you think and act. You must sort out in your own mind which of those feelings are truest and act upon them accordingly. Your eyes and ears can deceive you, so reach out with the Force to discern the truth."

"Yeah, sure. If you say so, Master Ralto. So, give me a map, and I'll get on my way."

* * *

"Just a simple ritual. Nothing too big, right?"

Faith was talking to herself as she carried a flaming brand up the mountain path leading out of the village. A helpful Twi'lek male had explained the ritual to her: carry the brand up the path, light the beacons along the way, and survive whatever she ran into on her journey.

So far, Faith had had to deal with a number of Flesh Raiders and some other creatures they seemed to be keeping as slaves. Faith didn't know what they were, but if they were an intelligent species, then these were their lesser, feral cousins.

She'd lit three beacons so far, and the fourth and last was in sight. There wasn't a lot of wildlife along this particular trail, save for the occasional uxibeast, and they were grazers.

Not sensing any form of attack, Faith lit the fourth beacon and continued up the path. Was it just her imagination, or was that a house at the top of the hill?

Her goal in sight, Faith resumed her journey with renewed energy. The small band of Flesh Raiders did not deter her in the slightest. The Force guided her blade, killing each of the three beings with a single, efficient slash.

At the peak of the mountain, Faith felt an influx of energy. It was positive, sustaining, and protective. She'd learned enough about the Force to know that it was stronger in certain places than in others. Tython as a whole was one such place, and this peak seemed to be another. Faith figured that it accounted for the Matriarch's safety from the Flesh Raiders.

Not wanting to appear completely out of it, Faith sat cross-legged on the ground and tried to focus on a healing meditation that she'd been taught. It was simple if one could just relax one's mind enough, but that was something that didn't come easily to Faith.

Still, she managed enough of a brief trance to reinvigorate her, and she had the presence of mind to make herself somewhat presentable before going inside.

Faith moved around to the front of the house, only to find no door, just an open portal. "Hello?" she called. "Is anybody here?"

"I am here, indeed, young Jedi."

Faith looked up and saw an elderly Twi'lek speaking to her from the roof of the house.

"Please, come upstairs."

Faith nodded and ascended the spiraling staircase inside the house, which eventually led to a nicely furnished roof where the woman who had to be the Matriarch stood waiting.

"Welcome, Jedi. I am Kolovish, Matriarch of the Pilgrims here. I saw you light the beacons as you ascended the mountain. You do both us and yourself credit by respecting our customs."

Faith didn't know what to say to that. She wasn't the diplomatic type at all. She was a fighter. How was she supposed to react to an old woman's gratitude?

"Look, um, Matriarch? Can I be honest with you?"

"I would appreciate that greatly. Might I first have your name?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. I'm Faith."

"A telling name, indeed. Now then, let us sit, and you can be honest about what is on your mind."

Kolovish directed Faith to a small table with two simple wooden stools, where they sat down together.

"Thanks," Faith said. "It's just… The Jedi are looking for some artifact or something that they think one of your people has, so they sent me to help you out with defending yourself. Something like a sign of good will to make up for all the times they ignored you when the Flesh Raiders were attacking. And they asked me to do the ritual. It made sense, you know? Be respectful and do what's expected, right? Only thing is that I'm lost and clueless and your people have been screwed over big time and I feel like a liar coming here and doing this ceremony just to earn your trust when you got no reason to give it."

The Twi'lek Matriarch merely smiled kindly. "Your words do you great credit, Jedi Faith. You clearly wish to do what is right for all people, and you are not so blindly devoted to the Jedi that you do not see their faults. A true Jedi does what is right even when it is not convenient, or even lawful sometimes. At least, that is what my ancestors taught me. If you are the future of the Order, then perhaps there is truth to that."

Faith wriggled in her seat, feeling horribly awkward. "You're being too good to me, Matriarch. I'm just a fighter, really. I see monsters or bad guys, and I kill 'em. Not much of a peacekeeper or philosopher or whatever."

"Perhaps that is not what the galaxy needs right now," Kolovish said sagely. "Perhaps we simply need an honest woman who will speak the truth, even when it pains her to do so. Jedi Faith, you have my blessing and are welcome among our people."

"What?! You're serious?" Faith asked disbelievingly.

"Of course, I am serious. You give yourself too little credit. I mean no humor when I ask you to have faith in yourself, young Jedi." Kolovish's hands went to a decorative button on her robe and removed it. "Let me put this on your robe, Faith. It will show to all of Kalikori Village that you are a friend of our people, and are welcome among us."

Faith stood up and held still as the Matriarch affixed the button. "Thank you, Matriarch. I don't know what to say, but I'll do my best to keep your people safe."

"I know you will, Faith. Go now, and peace be with you."

* * *

The trip back down the mountain path wasn't nearly as difficult as it had been coming up. Faith's attackers were all dead, and any potential new attackers were scared off by the dead bodies she had left behind.

Upon arriving in the village proper, Faith saw that most of the pilgrims had gravitated towards the center of the town, where a tall, blue-skinned Twi'lek man was speaking to the crowd, which was listening with rapt attention.

"For too long," he yelled, "we've been captive to the Flesh Raiders, who hold us in fear. Captive to the Republic, who tried to deny us our right to settle here. Captive to the Jedi, who have so much power, and yet refuse to share it. But I have found power of my own, and I will use it to defend our village!"

The Twi'lek raised in both hands a glowing green cube, etched with symbols that Faith didn't recognize. It sounded like a twinkle or a sparkle might sound.

"This device has granted me knowledge and power beyond any that I have known before, and it can be yours as well. Join me, and we will take the fight to the Flesh Raiders, then to the Jedi Temple, and then to the Republic itself!"

The crowd cheered wildly, and Faith knew that this could get out of hand very quickly if she didn't do something. There were no other Jedi nearby, and these villagers were caught up in a mob mentality. "How do you plan on doing that?" she called out.

The crowd of Twi'leks parted to allow a clear line of sight between Faith and the speaker. "What do you know of this, outsider?"

Faith smirked. "Well, I did just have a nice chat with your Matriarch. She seemed like a nice old lady. Gave me this wonderful button and everything. I think that means that I have a voice here."

"You have no place here, Jedi! Begone before we cut you down!" the speaker yelled angrily.

"I have heard from the Matriarch," a green-skinned Twi'lek said, and Faith recognized him as the one who had set her on the path up the mountain. "She has passed the trials, and is recognized by Kolovish as a member of our tribe."

"And as a member," Faith said, I gotta say that your plan has some serious flaws. If you go out and attack the Flesh Raiders, you're gonna come home to find your village ransacked and destroyed. That's assuming you survive.

"Then there's the Jedi," Faith continued. "Now, I'm new to the whole Force-using stuff, but I've seen some Masters at work, and from what I can tell, they could probably smack you down without even trying. They haven't, though, so don't try to fix what ain't broke.

"As for the Republic… Well, all I have to ask is how're you gonna get off Tython? Where's your ship? And what about the Empire? Are all, what, two hundred or so of you going to take on an entire galaxy?"

"You know nothing of the power I have obtained, outsider!" the speaker said, and Faith felt power in his words. "You will not poison the minds of my people. I, Gaspal, challenge you to prove your mettle against me. I will prove to everyone here that I have what it takes to conquer a Jedi."

Faith chuckled and slid off her outer robe and stretched a bit. Some of the Twi'leks gestured at her strangely, and Faith realized that they were looking at her tattoo. Jedi probably didn't get body art, she figured.

"You ready to do this?" Faith asked as she sauntered up towards Gaspal.

"I am," he said as he drew his sword.

Without warning, he attacked, bringing his sword down in an overhand chop. Faith blocked and turned the blade aside, but he was on her again, swinging from all angles.

Faith knew herself well enough to remember what it was like to fight on pure anger and adrenaline, and this guy had all the symptoms. "You're pretty angry, there, aren't ya?" she said, between blows.

"The Flesh Raiders kill my people! You Jedi do nothing! What do you expect me to feel?" He lunged at her.

Faith parried the blow. "Angry, of course. But not stupid."

Faith parried another series of blows, seeing no need to strike out herself. "You think you're doing your tribe a favor by sending them out to battle? They're not warriors. You're gonna get 'em killed."

"Not with this power!" Gaspal shouted, and he lashed out with the Force, and Faith felt herself go flying through the air.

Guiding her body with the Force, Faith landed on her feet and her spare hand. "Is that all the power you've got? Really? You're using up an awful lot of it right now. You sure you aren't getting tired?"

Gaspal did look like he was wearing himself out, but he merely screamed and charged at Faith.

She easily sidestepped him and slapped him on the rear with her blade. Not hard enough to cut, but enough to knock him down on his belly.

A gasp went up through the crowd as Faith stalked over to Gaspal, threw away his sword, and turned him over on his back. "You lost, buddy."

"What are you waiting for?" he spat. "Finish it."

Faith shook her head. "No. I'm not a murderer. Get up."

Gaspal looked appalled. "What?"

"I said get up!" Faith shouted.

The Twi'lek rushed to obey.

"All right, everyone. You want to protect your village, right? That's why I'm here. I don't give a damn about this relic, save that it seems to have given Gaspal here delusions of grandeur. I think it's dangerous. It made him angry and stupid, but it didn't give him enough power to beat a mere apprentice over at the Temple.

"So, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go over maps. We'll analyze the terrain, set up scouting posts, stockpile weapons and ammunition, and train civilians to defend themselves if they need to. We're not going to let the Flesh Raiders get the upper hand on you guys.

"As for the Jedi, they owe you. I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that they bend over backwards to make up for all the times they've let you down. And if they don't budge, then I'll be back here on my own to help you out. Any questions?"

"Why are you doing this for us?" a yellow-skinned woman shouted. "Why bother helping us?"

Faith looked at her straight in the eye. "Because I've been where you are. I've been helpless, surrounded by enemies and all on my own. Only I wasn't as alone as I thought I was, but I refused to see it that way. I got help, and I got better. I was able to look out for myself. And this was all before I even knew the Jedi existed. I met a lot of people who needed saving, and I helped 'em because it had to be done."

"And what's to say the Jedi won't force you to stop helping us?" the woman asked frantically. "How can we be sure you won't abandon us?"

Faith smiled faintly at the memories that gave context to her experiences, and to what she had to say.

"Because it's wrong."


	5. Buffy III - Moving On Up

**Buffy III - Moving On Up**

* * *

Buffy twirled the practice lightsaber between her fingers, trying to get a feel for a weightless blade. The device shined a harmless and pale light in place of a true blade, and her small quarters now glowed blood red. The practice saber was really no more than a fancy flashlight in design, but it was giving Buffy an entirely new appreciation for the Sith.

And, she supposed, for the Jedi.

Overseer Dalen had been sure to teach Buffy about the Jedi, followed quickly by why they were to be opposed and exterminated. If Buffy was honest with herself, she'd have made a far better Jedi than the Sith she was trying to be. She kept telling herself that it was her ticket off this world, then back to Faith, and then back home.

There was a knock at her door, which promptly opened. Buffy turned to see Dalen standing there.

"Good. You're decent. Put that practice saber away and get your war-blade. We've been summoned by Darth Arctis."

Buffy's eyes widened and she immediately rushed to obey. Anyone with a 'Darth' title was among the most powerful Sith in the entire Empire. One did not make it that far through weakness or stupidity.

"Arctis… Why does that name sound familiar?" Buffy pondered aloud.

"Because, Acolyte Summers," Dalen said impatiently, "he is a member of the Dark Council! In case you've forgotten, the Dark Council is made up of the twelve most powerful Sith Lords in the Empire, answerable only to the Emperor himself."

Buffy's eyes widened, but she strapped her war-blade to its harness on her back and smoothed out her tunic and pants. "Gotcha. Be respectful, don't mouth off, caution over boldness."

"Indeed, Summers. You look smart enough, I suppose. Let's go."

Buffy followed Dalen out of her room and walked briskly down the corridors towards the main hall. "Tell me about this guy," Buffy said. "What can I expect?"

"First of all," Dalen sneered, "do not ever address a Dark Councilor as 'this guy' if you value your life. For this meeting, know that Arctis is pragmatic and intelligent. He values tradition only so far as it supports his own power. He is the head of the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge; all Sith involved in that field answer to him in some way or another."

Buffy nodded, regretting it as she got a bit dizzy before heading up the stairs to the second floor of the main hall. She hadn't even noticed how far they'd gotten while talking. "How many of these pyramids are there?"

"Twelve, one for each Dark Councilor."

"Gotcha. Do we bow to this g- Sorry. Do we bow to Darth Arctis?"

"It would certainly be prudent to do so, yes. Down to one knee should suffice. Here we are."

A pair of masked guards in red robes flanked the door. They each wielded a wicked-looking pike that Buffy had been told was capable of taking down a Sith or a Jedi, as could their wielders. The guards stepped aside to allow Dalen and Buffy to pass through, and they did so.

As Buffy passed through the threshold, she was reminded of the guards outside Buckingham Palace, only more likely to kill you if you tried to get them to talk.

Dalen and Buffy rounded a corner into a large study. Shelves full of tomes and datapads lined the walls, glowing crystals illuminated the room, and a pale human man with graying hair sat facing away from his guests, reading over something on his desk.

Dalen bowed to one knee, and Buffy followed suit.

The man who had to be Darth Arctis spent another two minutes reading whatever it was he had in his hand before rising to greet his guests. "Ah, splendid. You're here. Do stand up, please."

Buffy rose to her feet slowly, not wanting to offend a guy who could probably swat her down without effort. She'd seen Sith with different talents than her shoot lightning from their fingertips, and the sight never failed to bring back memories of Willow's dark phase. Having been hit with summoned lightning before, Buffy had no desire to repeat the experience.

Dalen stood with his hands clasped behind his back, legs apart, in what Buffy recognized as 'at ease' from her time with Riley. Buffy copied his movements.

"I was just reading over reports of your time here on Korriban, Overseer Dalen. You've taken some very radical views, to say the least. You've advocated for alien blood in the Empire, saying that all those with strength should add that strength to the Sith. You've taken many alien apprentices since you became an Overseer, and while some have gone farther than others on Korriban, not one has survived the trials."

Dalen said nothing. Buffy looked at Arctis but could not read him. He seemed to be sizing up Dalen, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"You were given other, purer students to oversee in the past year," Arctis continued. "One of them was a favorite of my fellow Dark Councilor, Darth Vengean. Her name was Jorya, and she came from a proud lineage of warriors. You tried to pass her off to Overseer Harkun, telling Vengean that her talents rested in mastery of the Force's mysteries rather than physical combat. She would have fallen under my domain had you succeeded, Dalen. Is that why you recommended her to Harkun?"

"No, my Lord," Dalen said crisply. "It was evident that her skill with a blade was sub-par at best, but her power with the Force was great. She would have made a great sorceress had she been allowed to pursue her true talents."

"But Vengean wouldn't allow it. She was the daughter of one of his allies, and he promised to bring her under his dominion. She died in the sands of Valley of the Dark Lords, devoured by a pack of tuk'ata. Vengean swore that you would never rise above the rank of Overseer for this slight."

Buffy had no idea what Dalen could say to that without getting himself killed, but he merely inclined his head and said, "Yes, my Lord."

"And now," Arctis continued, moving to inspect Buffy, "you have taken on a student in some ways more radical than the aliens you advocate to teach. This acolyte comes from a world only recently discovered. She has no knowledge of our culture, our history, not even our language. You specifically requested her to be your next acolyte, given that no other Overseer saw a use for her. What is it that you see in Acolyte Summers, Dalen?"

"My Lord, Acolyte Summers is a formidable warrior who shows signs of experience in combat far greater than many full-fledged Sith Lords. Her physical strength, stamina, reflexes, and speed are all superior to other humans, and this is all without taking into account her acceptance of the Force into her life. Aside from that, she has a perspective untainted by the Republic's lies, and I believe that without having lived her life in the Empire, she can view it objectively and change it for the better without the burden of any preconceptions."

"Indeed," Arctis said skeptically. "Perhaps she would have made a better apprentice for Darth Vengean. Acolyte Summers," he said, speaking directly to Buffy for the first time, "you were found on Denova in the middle of a battle between our forces and those of the Republic. Tell me what happened there."

Buffy looked up and fully examined Darth Arctis for the first time. His skin was unnaturally pale, and his eyes were a strange shade of orange. His hair was white, though he wasn't balding, and he had a strange scar on one side of his mouth that gave the eerie impression that he was smirking, even without moving a facial muscle.

"Well, my Lord," Buffy began, trying to remember her place, "I didn't start on Denova. I was with my friends back home. Home would be a planet called Earth, which I couldn't tell you where to find. We didn't have space travel there. One moment, we're all sitting there and enjoying ourselves. The next, my wacky cousin from England and I are smack dab in the middle of a battlefield on what I guess was Denova. My cousin grabbed a shovel and started beating up some guys in white armor, and I was suddenly bobbing and weaving to avoid laser fire from a bunch of robots of some sort. I got separated from my cousin, and a masked Sith Lord captured me and put me in manacles. I was stuffed in a ship with four, maybe five other prisoners, and taken to Korriban. A bunch of Sith asked me questions, then put me in a cell for a while, and then Overseer Dalen came and started training me."

"Is that so? Fascinating." Darth Arctis seemed to be speaking to himself, so Buffy did not say anything. "Most peculiar, and yet I sense no deception from you. It seems that I was right to summon you. Your strength and power are clear to me. You light up like a beacon in the Force, calling out to be tested and forged. And I shall give you that opportunity.

"One of my former apprentices, Darth Crush, is foolishly attempting to unseat me. He is building a power base in what he believes to be a subtle manner, but his ploys are obvious to all who see them. He commands an Overseer here on Korriban who is also his lover: Overseer Falrath. They are currently evaluating acolytes to determine who will become Crush's next apprentice.

"Dalen, Summers, you will confront Crush and Falrath and execute them for their treason. You are exempt from the normal rules regarding the killing of fellow Sith within the Academy. Do this thing, and you will be rewarded."

"Thank you, my Lord," Dalen said, bowing to one knee again.

"Thank you, my Lord," Buffy echoed, following Dalen's lead.

"Go now," Arctis commanded, "and see that my will is done."

* * *

"My study, Summers," Dalen hissed as soon as they were out of Arctis's office. "Now."

Buffy didn't question the Overseer. She followed him to his study, where he unlocked an armoire with the Force and summoned a pair of lightsabers to either hand.

"You've been working on this for several weeks," Dalen said, handing Buffy her own handiwork. "I know it works, but does it feel right?"

Buffy looked at Dalen, wondering at the concern in his voice. Dalen cut a handsome figure with his dark hair, pale eyes, and hale good looks. Buffy had never been attracted to the Overseer, but there was something appealing about his face and voice right now. It was almost as if he cared for Buffy's well-being.

Buffy didn't linger on those thoughts, but activated her lightsaber and felt the glowing red blade in the Force. It did have weight of a sort, just not a physical weight. It wasn't like the Scythe; she didn't feel a special ownership of this weapon, but she knew that she could do whatever she needed to with it. It was the right tool for the right job.

Only the right job was murder, and Buffy didn't know if she could take another life.

"Listen to me Summers," Dalen said, grabbing her by both shoulders. "I know what you're feeling. I can practically hear your thoughts screaming. You don't want to kill another soul. That isn't how things worked back on whatever backwards world you called home, but this is not Denova, and it is not Earth. This is Korriban, and we are Sith. We rise on the backs of our rivals, or others rise atop of our own bodies. If you cannot accept this, then I will cut you down right now and take my chances alone. Do you understand what has to be done?"

Whatever Buffy was to Dalen – a path to power, an object of concern, whatever else she could be – he was dead set on making clear to Buffy that the old rules of home did not apply.

She thought about her meeting with Malra and Telran in the tombs, and of her confrontation with Loslar and the twins in the basement. This was a culture of pure Darwinism: the weak would perish and the strong would thrive. There would be no changing that.

Buffy remembered how weak she felt after the Council's sick test on her eighteenth birthday. She remembered how weak she had felt when Riley had left, when her mom had died, when she was ripped out of heaven, when Tara and even Anya had died. She knew what it was to be weak, and she swore not to be weak like that again.

"I'm with you, Dalen," she said firmly. Buffy surprised herself at how much she meant it. "Let's do this."

"I'll forgive the informality just this once, Summers," the Overseer said, but his smile said otherwise. "I'll lead the way. Back me up. We'll take them by surprise. Don't look suspicious in the halls. Tuck your lightsaber into your robe pocket."

Buffy nodded and did as Dalen instructed, following him through the dark passages of the Sith Academy until they reached an open portal. The room inside was little more than a large recess being used as a makeshift classroom. They took up positions on either side and listened in.

"What about this one, Falrath?" a deep male voice asked. "What makes her worthy to be Sith?"

"Malra knows her place, my Lord," a rough female voice answered. "She recognizes her betters and serves well. She is not strong enough to be considered for a path to lordship, but there is a place for her in the Empire. Just not as a true Sith."

"You may be right, Falrath, but I sense great resolve and cunning in this one. Hidden strength, even. Tell me, Acolyte Malra, is Overseer Falrath right about you, or am I?"

"I would be tested to prove my worth, my Lord," Malra answered.

"Ah, a worthy answer. And you, boy: I sense your lust for this acolyte. What is your name?"

"Telran, my Lord."

"Do you see a future with a Sith such as this? Perhaps you dream that you will become lovers once you leave Korriban together?"

"The future is mine to create, my Lord," Telran hissed.

"Good, you know what it means to be Sith. Falrath, you disappoint me. You told me that the one called Loslar was the most promising, yet I do not see a Loslar here. I hear that his family withdrew him, claiming that he was being given assignments unworthy of his station."

"You are correct, my Lord," Falrath hissed, and Buffy sensed the female Overseer's attention shift to Malra and Telran. "He was a known rival of these two."

"A rival, you say? My reports say he was more of a bully. And his two enforcers, Sappa and Laffa Falos, attempted to forge their task with a false artifact. So sad when pureblooded Sith have to be executed."

Buffy felt her stomach squirm at the revelation that she'd caused the death of the twin Sith. She reminded herself that this was Korriban, not Earth. The rules were different here.

"These two plotted his death," Falrath protested. "I know they did!"

"If they did, which has not been proven, then they are true Sith. What would you have me do, Falrath?"

"Kill them both! They dilute the purity of the Sith by culling the strong from our ranks!"

"Oh, at the very least, give them a trial by combat. Acolytes, watch carefully. See how two of your fellows, connected in the Force, fare against a true Sith."

Buffy sensed Dalen trying to get her attention. She could tell that he wanted to strike at Falrath while she was distracted with Telran and Malra, and Buffy couldn't deny her urge to put this bitch down.

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber ignited inside the room, and Buffy sensed her two allies making ready to defend themselves.

Dalen charged into the room and stabbed Falrath through the back, landing atop her dead body as it hit the ground.

Buffy followed a moment later, making the briefest of eye contact with Telran and Malra. They said nothing with words, but the Force conveyed everything.

Soon, the bald, red-skinned Sith male was against the wall, lightsaber out, defending himself from an onslaught from all sides. Dalen and Buffy were soon joined by Telran and Malra, and yet Darth Crush held his own.

A wave of Force energy threw the four attackers backward, but they all landed on their feet.

"Acolytes! Defend me!" Crush yelled desperately.

None of them rose to move a muscle. They sensed Darth Crush's weakness, and they knew he was doomed to fall one way or another.

Dalen rose his lightsaber and moved to bring it down upon Crush.

Before he could block, Buffy pushed Crush's sword arm away from his body, leaving him exposed.

Memories of what she had done to Caleb years earlier echoed through Buffy's mind as she gazed upon Darth Crush's dead body.

Buffy saw an opportunity to establish herself in the Sith hierarchy. "Darth Crush was a traitor, and his execution was warranted by Darth Arctis of the Dark Council. Acolytes Telran and Malra, stay here and make sure the rest of this bunch doesn't do anything stupid before the proper authorities come in to clean up this mess."

Dalen stepped in to take command back. "Do as my apprentice commands!"

"Yes, my Lord," the two lovers said as one before proceeding to get the other acolytes into proper shape.

"Someone will return for you shortly," Dalen said. "Until then, none of you is to leave this room. Stay. Here. Come, apprentice."

Dalen strode out of the room, and Buffy followed. Dalen was heading back towards Darth Arctis's study, Buffy noted.

"I thought that apprentices were only given to full Sith Lords," Buffy remarked.

"And yet, you clearly heard them address me as 'my Lord' back there," Dalen said with a smile. "You did very well back there, Summers. I do not exaggerate when I say that you are the best student I have ever had the privilege to teach."

Buffy smiled in return. "I would never have gotten as far as I have without your support, Overseer." When Dalen looked ready to protest, Buffy added, "You're not a Lord just yet, remember?"

Dalen chuckled. "We'll see."

* * *

"Splendid, splendid. The traitors are dealt with, and a new clutch of promising acolytes is ready to follow your, and thus, my lead."

Darth Arctis did look and sound quite pleased, and yet he still gave Buffy chills.

"Overseer Dalen, for your service to the Empire, you are granted the title of Lord of the Sith, with all the privileges and responsibilities that entails."

Dalen bowed to Arctis. "Thank you, my Lord."

"Many Sith," Arctis said, "choose a new name upon gaining Lordship. Something to symbolize what they have become. What will your name be?"

"Shar Dalen is my name, my Lord. It will suffice."

Darth Arctis chuckled. "Very well, Lord Dalen. As a Lord, you may now take an apprentice of your own. Do I assume correctly that Acolyte Summers is to be that apprentice?"

"Yes, my Lord," Dalen said proudly. "Acolyte Summers, you are to be my apprentice. You will learn the ways of the Force under me. Your trials here on Korriban are over, and a new set of tests out in the galaxy proper await you."

Buffy decided that it was now proper to bow before Dalen. "Thank you, my Lord."

"And now," Darth Arctis said, "there is one final matter to attend to." He pressed a button on his desk. "Send them in."

Buffy heard footsteps and saw Telran and Malra coming down the hall, bowing at Arctis's feet when they entered.

"These are the two acolytes who aided you in battle, correct?" Arctis asked.

"Yes, my Lord," Dalen said. "Darth Crush thought they had potential. Falrath disagreed."

"Indeed," Arctis said. "Summers, what do you think?"

Buffy looked Arctis in the eye, and she could tell that he knew about her earlier partnership with them. "They proved themselves useful," Buffy said as coolly as she could. "They could be worthy assets."

"Is that so? Do you agree Dalen?"

"It is too soon to say for certain, my Lord, but I am inclined to agree with my apprentice."

"Hm. Well, I do not agree," Arctis said. "They have been tainted by Darth Crush's ideals, and are unfit to live any longer. Kill them, Summers."

Buffy paled and felt her heart catch in her chest. If this was what the most powerful of Sith were, then she had no desire to be Sith at all.

Telran and Malra clearly disagreed. Their blades were out in an instant, and they were on their feet.

Without thinking, Buffy felt the Force guide her as her lightsaber ignited in her hand and cut through both acolytes in one blow, killing them instantly.

Buffy gasped in shock at her own actions, at what she had done on pure instinct.

Darth Arctis laughed and clapped slowly behind her. "Ah, yes. You have to learn, Summers, that all things are temporary. Your little dalliance with those two could have grown into something too large to control. I had to end it before it started you see? Thankfully, you proved compliant."

Buffy felt her rage simmer inside her. The cruelty and barbarity of this man was too great to fathom.

"Good, good. I can feel your anger, your rage, boiling just beneath the surface. You want very much to kill me, don't you Summers? Be truthful, now."

"I am going to see you rot in hell," Buffy snarled.

This only amused Arctis further, and he kept laughing. "Ah, this is good. She has a fire in her, Dalen. She will make a truly powerful Sith. Train her well, or risk my displeasure. Go now and seek arrangements on Dromund Kaas. I will give you further instructions once you arrive."

"Yes, my Lord," Dalen said. He did not bow before he turned to leave.

Buffy looked at the dead bodies of her two allies – had they thought themselves her friends? – on the ground, and then shot a murderous glare back at Darth Arctis.

"Apprentice!" Dalen shouted. "Follow!"

Buffy kept her eyes on Arctis, silently swearing revenge. "Yes, my Lord," she said, following Dalen out of the room.

Dalen did not say a word to her as they walked to the shuttle, and Buffy did not say anything back to him. At one point, he caught her gaze, and Buffy felt something in the Force. What it was, exactly, she could not say, but she felt Dalen's support in at least one matter.

Darth Arctis, whether by her hands or another's, would die for what he had done.


	6. Faith III - What Needs Doing

**Faith III - What Needs Doing**

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Faith said to Master Ralto. "After all that these pilgrims have been through, you're gonna be the ones to tell them who can and can't have weapons? These people need to defend themselves."

"Tython is strong in the Force," Ralto explained patiently. "The Force can influence the weak-minded in subtle ways. The Jedi only want to ensure that the Twi'leks are properly equipped to deal with the dangers of this world. If the wrong people are given the wrong tools… Well, you saw what happened with that relic."

"I was pretty close to it, and I didn't feel anything strange," Faith said. "And you're dodging the point, which is that almost all of the pilgrims are 'weak-minded' to you. You Jedi think you're so much better than everyone else, don't you? You have the Force, so that gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies. Is that it?!"

"Calm yourself, Padawan," Ralto said with a touch of impatience. "There is no passion, there is serenity."

"Tell that to the Twi'leks who keep losing loved ones to the Flesh Raiders. Tell them that there is no death. They. Aren't. Jedi! You can't expect everyone on Tython to play by your rules just because you got here first!"

"That's enough, Padawan Lehane!" Ralto said firmly. "I think your time could be better spent on other matters. Return to your quarters and meditate in silence for the next two hours."

Faith squashed down the urge to yank Ralto around by his head tresses and stormed out of the room without another word.

She did not go to her quarters, though. She needed to work out, and the grounds in front of the Jedi Temple had combat droids to train against.

Walking up to the programming podium, Faith set the droids to level three: midway between weakest and strongest.

Four bipedal droids unfolded. Two had blasters, and another two had vibroswords.

Faith charged the left blaster-wielding droid, deflecting its blasts and cut it in half. With a push of the Force, she slammed one sword-wielding droid into the other, knocking them both to the ground, no longer functional.

Faith took hold of her practice sword like a spear and threw it straight at the final droid, penetrating its metal head and sending it tumbling to the ground in a shower of sparks.

Retrieving her blade, Faith decided to make her way back to Kalikori Village. It had been weeks since she'd first promised aid, and the Jedi hadn't delivered. She'd been doing the best she could to train the civilians in swordplay, but it wasn't much. The pilgrims were still grateful, and Faith would be damned if she let that gratitude be for nothing.

Faith's holo-communicator beeped, and she activated it to see a young Twi'lek woman talking to her. It was the new matriarch, Ranna Tao'Ven. Her mother, the old matriarch, had recently died.

"Matriarch, I was just on my way to the village. What's up?"

"One of our warriors just returned, gravely injured. He was in a band of seven, and only he survived. He said a Flesh Raider killed his companions and gravely injured him."

"One Flesh Raider did that?" Faith asked. "I didn't think they were smart enough to take on so many at once."

"This Flesh Raider had a lightsaber."

"What?! Matriarch, please tell me you're kidding."

"I wish I was. Faith, you have to help us. The Jedi have turned their backs on us, all save for you. Please, help us, Faith Lehane. You're our only hope."

Faith wriggled a bit at the pressure being put on her, but she wasn't going to let anything else happen to this village. "All right. I'll be right there. Faith out."

Calling on the Force to invigorate her, Faith rushed with great speed through the mountain pass toward Kalikori Village.

* * *

Faith arrived at the medical hut, where a concerned-looking female Twi'lek let her inside.

Walking over to the bloody bedside, Faith crouched next to the blue-skinned male Twi'lek and had to suppress a gasp. His left lekku – his head tendril – had been sliced off completely. Faith knew just enough about Twi'lek biology to know that lekku were both erogenous zones and part of the nervous system. This warrior had to be in unimaginable pain.

"Hey there," Faith said in what she hoped sounded soothing and friendly. "What's your name?"

"Raln," the warrior groaned. "I know you, Faith. You can stop this monster?"

"If I don't, I'll die trying."

"Thank you," Raln said, his breath clenching.

"Easy there. Come on, work with me, here," Faith said. She knew the Force could heal someone, and she had meditated to heal herself, but could she heal another person?

"Take my hand. It's okay, trust me." Faith concentrated and tried to clear her mind. She tried to see herself and Raln in the Force. She tried to transfer a bit of her own energy to him, and she gestured with the Force to ease his pain.

"Ah," he sighed. "I don't know what you did, but thank you. The pain is less."

"I don't really know what I did," Faith admitted. "I just did it."

"Regardless, thank you. I will help you if I can."

"Just rest," Faith said. "Tell me what you know about this Flesh Raider. Don't rush it, take your time."

"It was larger than the others. And it spoke. Not with a growl or anything feral. It sounded intelligent, and it had a small army of Flesh Raiders behind it. It took us on because it wanted to, not because it had to."

"All right. You're doing great, Raln. Can you tell me where this Flesh Raider army was headed?"

"They took a path leading away from the village. They're not coming here. That path only leads to the Jedi Temple."

"Damn! You gotta be kidding me!" Faith exclaimed.

"I wish I was not. But he did not call it the Jedi Temple. He called it the 'Sanctuary of the Ashla.' I don't know what he means, other than that Ashla is one of Tython's moons."

"I remember that lesson," Faith said. "Before there were Jedi or Sith, the people here on Tython only knew about the Force. They called the light side 'Ashla' and the dark side 'Bogan' after the moons."

Faith stood up. "This is so above my pay grade. I gotta go warn the Jedi."

"Will they listen to you, Faith?" Raln gasped. "They who trivialize the suffering of our people? They who marginalize your efforts to help us? They will see you as a raving lunatic, trying to rally support for a lost cause."

Faith shook her head. "No, this is too big. Trust me, they won't ignore this."

* * *

"So, you're just going to ignore this?!"

"Faith," Master Ralto said in that increasingly annoying patient voice of his, "nothing we have seen indicates that the Flesh Raiders are in any way intelligent. None of them have the skill to build a lightsaber, and if they did, they could not use one."

"Fine. What about the army coming to destroy the 'Sanctuary of the Ashla?'"

"The pilgrims have studied Tython's history just as we have, some alongside us. This was probably nothing more than a nightmare after a traumatic battle. If his lekku was indeed severed, then he cannot possibly be coherent."

"This is just…" Faith threw up her hands in disgust. "You Jedi are useless. If you won't do something about this, then I will."

"Do not act out in anger, Padawan!" Ralto warned.

"Anger? This isn't me angry, Master Ralto. This is me trying to save your sorry ass! Get out of my way."

Shoving herself past Ralto, Faith stormed off, making ready to head off the Flesh Raiders.

"Padawan Faith!"

Faith turned to see Satele Shan heading towards her. "Master, now is really not a good time."

"I'm sorry, but this is an urgent matter. Please, come with me."

Faith shook her head and followed Satele quietly, keeping her angry thoughts to herself.

The Grand Master led her to a small enclave where the glowing green relic from the village sat on a table.

"We've been working to try and figure out this device, but it won't respond to any of us, and I think I know why."

"What's your theory, professor?" Faith quipped.

Satele ignored Faith's insubordination. "This relic bears markings that the Republic has only seen in one other place: the Star Forge, which was an ancient factory from an alien empire that predates the Republic. That empire was a thing of the Dark Side. As Jedi, we are simply incompatible with it."

Faith got the idea. "But you thought, 'Hey, maybe the crazy chick who'll never be a true Jedi might just be dark enough to figure the thing out.' That about right?"

"Inelegantly put, but essentially yes," Satele said.

Faith was taken aback by the Grand Master's honesty. "So, how does it work?"

"We don't know," Satele said. "We've tried reaching out with the Force to touch every inch of the cube, inside and out. Nothing."

"Fine, let me take a look," Faith said impatiently.

Before anyone could stop her, she'd picked up the cube and was looking it over. There were three buttons that she could see on three different sides. One had a horizontal line on it, another had a T shape adorning it, and the third had an H-like shape on it.

"One line," Faith said, pushing the dashed button, which received an audible beep. "Two lines," she said a she pushed the T-button. "Three lines," she finished, pushing the H-button.

As surge of visible energy shot out of the cube and into Faith's head, which swam with visions.

Faith saw Tython as it had been millennia ago, when the first Force-users came to study there. They divided into followers of Ashla and Bogan – light and dark – and thus began the Force Wars. The followers of Ashla triumphed, and the followers of Bogan retreated into the ruins of Kaleth, where the spirits of fallen warriors still lingered.

A web of the Force spread across the galaxy, and Faith saw that this cube – datacron, it was called – was linked to several others on so many different worlds all across the galaxy. Through this web of the Force, she saw another datacron on Tython. Not far away, across a river, was a Flesh Raider with a lightsaber leading an army. In the Force, Faith saw not a Flesh Raider, but a fallen warrior of Bogan, still vengeful after so many years.

The visions receded, and Faith was once again in the Jedi Temple, holding the datacron in her hands.

"Faith? What just happened?" Satele asked.

"A vision," Faith said. "It showed me the Force Wars. It's called a datacron, and it's a little block of information. There are tons like it all over the galaxy. And it showed me a Flesh Raider with a lightsaber, leading an army of other Flesh Raiders. The one in the lead is possessed by the spirit of a dead warrior from the ruins of Kaleth. They're heading here, and they've already killed a bunch of Twi'lek pilgrims."

"How did we miss this?" Satele wondered aloud.

"You blinded yourself to the obvious!" Faith shouted. "Jedi are supposed to protect people, but you ration that care to the 'worthy' and leave the Twi'leks to fend for themselves. So they seek out their own power, leading them to this datacron. They're unprepared, because you didn't prepare them, but they're okay now. They're still getting slaughtered, but that's not your problem. And because you couldn't figure out how to push a fucking button, you had to bring in the dumb, backwater hick from Earth to bail you out!"

Satele did not recoil from Faith's verbal onslaught, but she steeled herself, clearly preparing mentally for what was to come.

"If you'll excuse me, Master," Faith said sarcastically, "I have a Temple to defend."

* * *

Faith stood in the middle of a creek that the Flesh Raider army would have to wade through in order to reach the Jedi Temple. She'd learned enough meditation techniques – both on Earth and in the Temple – to know that it would be a good idea to prepare for the coming battle.

She sat cross-legged, hovering in midair, clearing her mind of distractions. And she felt them coming.

Opening her eyes, Faith unfolded her legs and tried to tune out the water seeping into her boots. A large Flesh Raider was at the front of an army of about seventy other Flesh Raiders, and it bore a blue lightsaber in its hand.

"You!" it said in an angry male voice. "Are you Bogan or Ashla?"

"What? You can't tell just be sensing me?"

"I sense both in you, young one, but where your true allegiance lies, I cannot tell. Join me, and through Bogan, we will rule this world, and every other after it."

"Nah, I don't think that's gonna work out. I think I'm gonna kill you, and then your army's gonna disband when they see how thoroughly I trash you, and then the day will be saved, cut to commercial, roll credits."

"Bah! You speak nonsense. Are you challenging me?"

"Yup. Come and get some, big boy."

With a roar of rage, the possessed Flesh Raider leaped at Faith, who was not expecting a hulking, hammer-headed beast with sharp teeth to come hurtling towards her.

Faith leaped to the side, letting the Bogan warrior land heavily in the ground.

Knowing her strengths – speed and agility – Faith slashed at the beast with her practice sword, not doing a lot of damage to its tough hide, even for a Flesh Raider.

"You are pitiful, warrior of Ashla!" it mocked her. "You think you can best me?"

A glint of something in the sunlight caught Faith's eye, and she moved to the side, trying to get the possessed Flesh Raider into just the right position.

"Maybe, maybe not. You're a tough one, I'll give you that. I'm betting you're compensating for something. You probably had a tiny dick centuries ago, and I bet its even smaller now, eh, tough guy?"

"You dare…?"

"Yeah, I dare." She sidestepped again, and the Flesh Raider followed suit. "What're you gonna do about it. I'm just a poor, weak, human girl, and you're a big strong, Flesh Raider manly man."

Another sidestep. "Just try me," Faith said with a smirk.

The possessed warrior roared with rage, just long enough for an arrow to pierce its head.

Faith looked to the hilltop where she saw a blue-skinned Twi'lek archer, and she gave him a quick salute with two fingers.

The Bogan warrior wasn't giving up, but he wasn't getting up, either. "You… cannot… win! I… am…"

With a burst of blue energy, the warrior exploded, sending shockwaves of Force energy through the river valley before receding into an empty loincloth, next to which lay a lightsaber hilt.

Faith strode over confidently to the lightsaber, picked it up, and turned it on. It wasn't anything like a metal blade. It had no physical substance, no actual weight, but she could feel it in the Force.

Looking at the Flesh Raider army, she pointed the blue blade straight at them and smirked.

"Run."

And they did just that, breaking formation and fleeing back into the mountains.

Faith heard a speeder rounding the bend from the direction of the Jedi Temple, and Masters Shan, Ralto, and half a dozen others leaped out of the vehicle and headed for Faith.

"Took ya long enough," Faith taunted. "Believe me now?"

"Definitely," Master Shan said. "It seems that we were too caught up in our preconceptions that we forgot a crucial part of the Jedi Code. We assumed we were knowledgeable, and we forgot the possibility that we could be ignorant. We all felt the shockwave. I have no idea how you took down a trained soldier from the Force Wars, but we are in your debt."

"Hey, I had plenty of help." Faith waved at the hillside, and the Twi'lek archer came down the hill.

"Hey, Gaspal! You feeling better now? Delusions from the datacron all gone?"

"Yes, Faith. Thanks to you, we can all rest a bit easier now."

"You remember Gaspal, right?" Faith said to the Jedi. "The 'weak-minded' Twi'lek who stumbled upon that datacron? Turns out he's got some wicked skills with a bow. He took down the bad guy while I had him distracted. Teamwork for the win, right?"

Gaspal smiled weakly. "Something like that, yes."

"Let me see that lightsaber," Master Ralto said. "Please."

"Since you asked so nicely," Faith said with a smile, handing the Nautolan the weapon.

"This," Ralto said with disbelief. "This is ancient. The design is simple, definitely a precursor to the modern lightsaber. It must have been lying in the ruins of Kaleth for ages."

"And now, it is yours," Satele said, taking it from Ralto and handing it back to Faith. "You've more than earned this. Your skill in combat, your wisdom, and your compassion all do you great credit. I see no reason why you should remain a Padawan learner."

"I agree," Ralto said. "I am not proud to admit my mistakes, but I will gladly acknowledge an exceptional student when I see her. Well done, Jedi Faith."

Faith stood with her mouth hanging open, taken aback. "Thanks, I guess, but I didn't really do anything all that great. I just did what had to be done, y'know?"

"And yet, you were the only one among us who was willing to do what had to be done," Satele said gently. "The Jedi Order needs more like you, Faith, who will do the right thing even when it isn't easy, or even apparent."

"Thank you, Master," Faith said, meaning the respectful title she gave Satele Shan. "Really, thank you."

"You're very welcome. I would like you to remain with Master Ralto for a time, traveling with him and helping him throughout the galaxy, if you have no objections."

"No, that's cool."

"Excellent," Ralto said. "I have to talk to the Galactic Senate about recent developments, including Denova, which you can give answers about. We leave for Coruscant on the morning shuttle. Go pack your things, Jedi Faith."

"Roger that, Master Ralto."

* * *

Faith sat in the back of the small shuttle, wondering what Coruscant would be like. She'd heard it called a planet-wide city, but such a thing didn't compute with her. She simply wondered idly in the otherwise empty shuttle.

She felt the shift from artificial gravity back to normal, planetary G-forces, and Faith stood up and stretched. It was about time.

The ramp lowered, and Faith walked out of the shuttle…

…and into a familiar apartment that all rational logic told her had been buried in a giant crater.

"Faith!"

She turned around with a start. "Buffy?"

"We need to talk."


	7. Interlude - Soft Sheets

**Interlude - Soft Sheets**

* * *

Buffy woke up.

After months of living in the harshness of the Sith Academy, Buffy had grown used to a hard slab of rock for a bed. The soft cushion beneath her was both welcome and alien.

Instinctively, Buffy got out of bed and began to smooth the sheets back down. Everything had to be nice and perfect. She had to be ready.

A footfall alerted her to someone by the window.

"Faith?"

The woman turned around, and it was Faith!

"Buffy?"

All of a sudden, things became clearer. This bed wasn't her bed. She wasn't on Korriban or a ship or Dromund Kaas. This was only the third time she'd ever had one of these shared dreams, and this was the first time she'd had any sort of awareness of what was going on.

"We need to talk."

Faith laughed. "Yeah, no kidding, B. Where've you been? The trains left Denova a while back. Did you find your stop at the other end?"

"I got off somewhere," Buffy replied, going with the flow. "It was hot and sandy."

"I found a nice place in the mountains," Faith said, moving to stand by the window.

Buffy joined her. "The mountains here look like a hooded man staring down into the Valley. A dark man looking over his dark children."

"Are you a dark child, B?"

"They want me to be one. I think I might be one. What about you?"

"The water here is nice. It's cool and soothing. It pretends to be peaceful, and it wants to be. But it really isn't."

"Jedi?" Buffy guessed.

"Sith?" Faith retorted.

"They won't ever learn, will they?"

"Will we?" Faith asked.

"I didn't," Buffy said, and she picked up a pillow off the bed and began to fluff it.

"What happened?" Faith asked as she picked up the other pillow.

"I had to be strong," Buffy said, putting the pillow down and aligning it just right. "They wanted me to be stronger. The strong survive and the weak die."

"The way of the world," Faith said, arranging her pillow next to Buffy's.

"I was strong, and they were weak," Buffy said sadly. She vaguely felt like crying, but the tears didn't come.

"Oh. Oh, no," Faith said. She sat on the bed and gathered Buffy into her arms, laying the blonde Slayer's head into her lap.

"They were in love," Buffy said. "It happened so fast. I said I'd protect them."

Faith nodded and stroked Buffy's hair with her open fingers. "That's what you do, B. You protect people."

"No," Buffy protested. "No, it's not. A dark man wanted me to hurt, so he made me kill them. I want to kill him now, but I don't want to be dark like that."

"You won't be," Faith said with surety.

* * *

Faith was simultaneously confused and content. She wasn't supposed to be the comforting type. She wasn't supposed to be the one holding a Buffy that needed to cry, trying to tell her that everything would be all right.

And yet, here she was, doing just that. The sheets were getting all wet from the tears that trickled but did not flow. Faith would have to hang them out to dry later on. Buffy was what mattered now.

"I know what you're going through, B."

"No," Buffy said with agony. "How could you?"

Faith took Buffy's chin between her fingers and locked her green gaze onto her own brown eyes. "I know exactly what it's like to kill someone without meaning to," Faith said quietly. "The confusion afterwards, the elation, the thrill to know that you have this power over life itself, and all it takes to seize control of that power is to turn off the little voice in your head that says 'this is wrong.' You remember that, don't you?"

Buffy picked up the white linen and wiped her eyes with it. Faith didn't care that she'd need to wash it out later. Buffy needed it more.

"I forgot," she said quietly.

Faith shrugged. "Being upset does that. The light men where I am think that emotions leads to darkness. Maybe it can make a sunny day cloudy from time to time, but I'd take a cloudy day over a non-existent day any… day. That came out weird."

Buffy laughed, and Faith smiled at her more-than-friend's happiness, however short-lived. "The dark men are just as foolish. They say there is no peace, but I remember peace."

Faith noticed how quiet Buffy was, and with a start, Faith realized that Buffy was remembering her time in heaven. Damn, but how did you talk to someone who had gone through that?

"I'm so sorry." She stroked Buffy's hair some more and wiped a few tears from her cheeks. It wasn't very Faith-like, but it seemed like the right thing to do. The bed was all a mess, so now she'd straighten Buffy's hair. "Can I do anything to help?"

"You already are, Faith," Buffy said with a content sigh. "This place… These dreams… I feel like we've been here more than we have. And when we've been here, it's like the rest of the world doesn't exist, and there's no need to worry about it. Here, I can just be me, y'know?"

"Yeah, Buffy. I know."

A subtle shift of Buffy's head made Faith suddenly aware of the intimate position they were both in. Buffy was hot and all, but she was… She was Buffy! And this dream wasn't about them. Well, it was, but not like that.

"Hey, Faith?"

"Yeah, B?"

"Do you think we'll ever get back home?"

"I dunno. Do you think we'll find each other out there?"

* * *

"I really hope so." Buffy shifted her head and breathed in the comforting scent of the apartment. It was a pleasant mix of air freshener, soft sheets, and Faith.

Buffy put on her mental breaks and backed up a few meters. Where had that come from? Was Faith-smell really such a good thing?

"What're you thinkin' about, B?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, I was just wondering how the gang back in Cleveland is doing."

"Yeah, so am I. What're you really thinking, Buffy?"

"Sorry." Buffy felt so silly. "I just… This place, here, with you… It just feels right. It feels like more than it seems. And I want this to happen out there, without the war and the Force and other worlds. I just want a place to call home with you."

"With me?"

"I think so," Buffy said, not quite sure where she was going, but she went on anyway. "We're stuck out here together. Only, we're together here, in this place. If we can find each other out there, then we can team up and take on the universe together, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. How're we gonna do that?"

"I don't know," Buffy said. "But we are going to find each other, right?"

"Definitely. Hey, B?"

"Yeah, Faith?"

"I want to kiss you now."

Buffy smiled and took her head out of Faith's lap and looked into her eyes. "Why?"

Faith shrugged. "It feels right. May I?"

Buffy put a finger to Faith's lips, shushing her as she reached up to kiss the brunette Slayer.

It was something kind of like love.

* * *

"That was nice," Buffy said.

"Yes, it was," Faith agreed. It had been very nice.

"I think I know you now," Buffy said. "I mean, I knew you already, but I think I know you differently now."

"I know what you mean," Faith said. "I know you know me, and I know you, and you know I know you."

"Do we really know that?"

"I don't know."

They both turned to look at the bed. "We made such a mess," Faith said.

"Who's going to clean it up?" Buffy asked.

"Room service can handle it. I think I have to go now. Lots to do."

"Yeah, same here. There's always something."

"Ain't that the truth," Faith said with a smirk.

A knock came from the door.

"They're here to make the bed," Buffy said.

"We should let them in," Faith said, reaching for the doorknob. "But we'll both be back here again sometime soon."

Buffy placed her hand over Faith's. "We should try a new set of sheets."

Faith turned the doorknob.

Buffy woke up.


	8. Buffy IV - Welcome to the Jungle

**Buffy IV - Welcome to the Jungle**

* * *

"What are you thinking about, Summers?"

Buffy shook her head clear of its hazy cloud of semi-thought and turned to face Dalen. "Huh?

"You've been very quiet ever since we left Vaiken Spacedock," the newly-minted Lord said. "Normally, you never shut your mouth."

"I'm that bad, am I?"

"You are," Dalen said with a wry grin. "You're also overly familiar with your superiors."

"And yet, you don't order me to correct the error of my ways," Buffy pointed out.

"I have no use for a simpering sycophant whose only aim is to please me," Dalen explained. "Too many Sith mistake dominance for power. Sith are creatures of strength; being forced into servitude breeds contempt, and I have no desire for you to turn on me, Summers."

Buffy looked at Dalen strangely. "You don't seem like most Sith, Da… My Lord," Buffy quickly corrected herself. She hated the formalities, but the Sith made the old Council of Watchers look like fluffy puppies by comparison. "I don't think Darth Arctis would approve of your views."

"Ah, but he doesn't need to know, does he? And you haven't answered my question. What were you thinking about, Summers?"

"Well," Buffy said, "what does the Force tell you? What are my feelings screaming out?"

"I shan't say right now," Dalen said with a smirk. "Consider this a test of honesty."

"Jerk."

"I don't know what that word means," Dalen said, "but I'm certain you meant it with all the respect due your Master."

"Oh, of course," Buffy said with a smirk of her own. "To be honest, I was thinking about my friend from Denova."

"You told Darth Arctis that you had a cousin on Denova," Dalen noted. "A man or a woman?"

"Woman," Buffy said. "Definitely a woman."

"I see. What is your real relationship with her? And don't lie to me."

Buffy knew that Dalen offered her a lot of leeway with many things, but she didn't want to test his patience. "We've been so many different things: friends, enemies, rivals, allies, and not in that order and none of them only once."

"She isn't your family, then?" Dalen asked, not unkindly.

"She is family," Buffy said with a firmness she hadn't expected from herself. "We've been through too much together, and my family is more than blood."

Hugging her chest, Buffy realized how stale the air in the shuttle was. "My family is so far away now. Even Faith… I don't know what happened to her on Denova; just that she survived."

"Ah, I see." Dalen had a look somewhere between smugness and compassion on his face, and it annoyed Buffy greatly. "You two are bonded in the Force. I can feel it."

"What?" Buffy was lost.

"For two or more beings who have a certain level of closeness or intimacy," Dalen explained, now in full-fledged teacher-mode, "the Force recognizes that closeness and forms a bond that is stronger than any physical or social thing. The very stuff of the universe binds you to each other, not matter how far apart you are in the physical world. It is in some ways the truest form of marriage: two souls bound to each other in the Force, forming a greater whole."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I am not married to Faith!" Buffy protested.

"I did not mean that word in its literal, societal sense," Dalen said a touch impatiently. "What matters is that you two are joined on a metaphysical level, and that is something that cannot be taken for granted, ever. If you can sense this person in the Force, no matter the distance, then you are truly privileged to have someone so close to your spirit."

Something in Dalen's voice hinted at… Buffy didn't know what it hinted at, but there was something he wasn't sharing. It was probably something private.

The intercom beeped on. "Attention, passengers: we have entered the Dromund system. Touchdown at Kaas City Spaceport in approximately forty-five minutes. Fasten your safety harnesses and prepare for extreme turbulence." The intercom clicked off.

"Extreme turbulence?" Buffy queried of Dalen.

"Dromund Kaas," he explained, "has no normal cycle of day and night as you know it. The entire planet is in a state of perpetual twilight because of the lightning storms that ravage the atmosphere without end."

"That's not all, is it?"

"No," Dalen acknowledged. "You are truly insightful. The storms are said to be the work of the Emperor himself, conjured in a dark ritual centuries ago."

Dalen's hushed voice sent shivers down Buffy's spine as she pondered the meaning of his words. "You're afraid of the Emperor, aren't you?" she intuited.

"Any sane being would be," Dalen countered. "But it is highly unlikely that either of us shall ever meet him. He is nothing like the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, or even the Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Those are public figures who age and die like any other being in this galaxy.

"They say that the Republic is the combined strength and productivity of all its citizenry. The Empire, on the other hand, is a thing of the Sith. And the Sith, however strong they might be, are a thing of the Emperor. He is quite literally not a mere mortal, Summers," Dalen said quietly. "To some in the Empire, he is a god. To others, he is a distant figurehead who is never seen. To Sith, like us, he is our supreme master; seldom seen but ever-present. Do you understand?"

Buffy hadn't expected the sheer awe from the former Overseer. "Yeah, I think so," she said reluctantly. "I, uh, didn't realize he was that powerful. You almost sounded like you were worshiping him."

"Did I, really?" Dalen said, sounding lighter suddenly. "How interesting. I suppose I'm a good Sith and Imperial citizen, after all."

Buffy couldn't help but laugh. "That you are."

The shuttle began to rock heavily, and loud claps of thunder could be heard through the hull.

"You're sure this thing is gonna hold together?" Buffy asked nervously.

"Oh, quite sure," Dalen answered. "Only select craft are able to safely weather these storms on a regular basis. It's part of the Empire's defense. You aren't nervous are you?"

"Nervous? About passing through a Force-conjured storm to land in the capital of the Sith Empire, where a sadistic bastard is waiting to give us orders? No, why would I be nervous?"

Dalen laughed, and Buffy smiled along with her Master. Despite their differences in station, Buffy was hoping she could call Shar Dalen a friend some day.

* * *

The vendor at the spaceport, Buffy decided, was a supremely cunning and resourceful man. He insisted that Buffy buy a waterproof robe, boots, and gloves before heading into Kaas City proper, and she was so glad that she had taken Dalen's advice and bought a matching set.

Upon stepping outside to wait for a speeder to come and pick them up, Buffy's first thought had been, 'So this is what being a part of Riley's team must've been like.' The howls and roars of predatory beasts sounded throughout the alien jungle, and the rain and humidity seeped into her bones despite the heavy canopy of tree cover and her new clothes.

A bald, white-skinned, tattooed Rattataki slave came scurrying up to Dalen from the taxi pad. She bowed before him. "My Lord Dalen: my Master, Darth Arctis, commands your presence at the Citadel immediately. To that end, he has supplied a private speeder. Please follow me."

Dalen nodded. "Very well. Lead the way, slave."

The Rattataki bowed her head again and led Dalen and Buffy to a closed-cover speeder with black-tinted windows.

"Uh, Dalen?" Buffy said. "You see the dark van-like vehicle we're about to get into?"

"You must start calling me 'Master,' Summers, and I do not know what a 'van' is. What of it?"

"I dunno. I just have a bad feeling about this, I guess."

"You must trust your feelings," Dalen said as he entered the vehicle. "But you must also learn to obey, and right now, I am commanding you to silence yourself and get in the vehicle."

He didn't raise his voice, but Buffy felt a warm anger begin to simmer in her chest. "Of course, Master," she said bitingly, following him into the black van that wasn't a van.

Buffy sat down on a hard metal slab of a seat and looked across from her to see the Rattataki slave holding a wicked-looking pair of long knives on her lap.

"Uh, Master…"

"Did I or did I not command you to be silent, Summers?"

Buffy glowered at Dalen quietly before returning her eyes to Rattataki woman sitting across from her. She wanted those knives to stay where they were. 'No sudden moves,' she told herself.

Buffy felt the speeder wind and turn at several points, but not knowing the layout of Dromund Kaas, she had no idea where they were going.

The sound of the engine winding down prompted Buffy to stretch her legs. She was ready to get out of the cramped vehicle.

A hand clamped itself over her forearm, and Buffy's eyes found Dalen's cold gaze. "This is not for you, Summers. Not yet. Stay here. I will return shortly."

Dalen turned to the Rattataki woman. "Watch her, humor her verbosity. Do not harm her unless she tries to flee."

"I understand," the white-skinned woman said tonelessly. "Summers, look away from the door."

Buffy scowled, but those twin knives, long and curved and sure to be made of lightsaber-proof cortosis… They kept her from doing anything rash. In this cramped space, the Rattataki would have the advantage.

Buffy turned her head away from the door, keeping her eyes on the knives on the woman's lap. When the door opened behind her, Buffy heard a few parts of sentences, Dalen's name, and the name of another Sith Lord that Buffy didn't recognize.

Buffy turned back to face the chalk-white woman in front of her once the door closed again. "So, I take it you're not really a slave? I'm guessing the Empire doesn't let slaves carry weapons like that. Gotta admire the craftsmanship there."

The woman snorted. "You are not like most Sith."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "How so?"

"You speak to me as an equal. You may believe one thing about my station, or you may believe another, but back at the spaceport, you did not look down at me as an abhorrent alien."

Buffy chuckled. "Look, um… I don't have a name, and I have trouble pronouncing your species, and I don't want to call you something that sounds too much like 'rat,' so what should I call you?"

"I don't care what you call me." The bald woman's voice was raspy and deep.

"Gotcha. Let's go with a classic: call you Ishmael. Now, as for not looking down on you, I come from a place where there isn't any slavery. At least, there hasn't been in my country in a few generations. I've also met quite a few non-humans who wanted to kill me, and others who were perfectly content with not trying to kill me. I didn't grow up in the Empire, so don't expect me to act like a typical Sith at all."

'Ishmael' nodded quietly, seeming to accept this explanation for the time being. "You would take aliens as allies, then?"

"So long as they didn't try to kill me, and they added to the team, then yeah, no problem."

"Say that again," Ishmael said a touch urgently.

Buffy sighed. "I said that if they didn't try to kill me, and if they helped the team, then-"

"There! That word!" the Rattataki woman hissed. "I have never heard a Sith outside this…"

"Outside this what?" Buffy asked. "Where are we?"

"That is not your concern!" the woman hissed, her fingers tightening around the handles of her knives. "Most Sith," she continued in a tense voice, "do not think of their allies as 'teams' or partners. Why would you think in such a way? What benefit is there to working alongside equals?"

Buffy was confused as all hell, but she decided to humor the woman. "Well, Ishmael, as good a fighter as I am, I can't do it all. I have my weaknesses and my blind spots. I have friends who…"

"Friends?!" Ishmael gasped.

"Yeah, you have a problem with that?" Buffy challenged. "Like I was saying, I have friends who don't share my skills. My strengths are their weaknesses, and their strengths are my weaknesses. Any Sith, or any person, who tells you that they have no weaknesses is lying through their teeth. If they, uh, have teeth. I don't know what species have teeth and which don't. Anyway, we trust each other, work together, share in the success, and we all grow stronger as a result. We don't stand atop each other; we rise or fall together. Everyone wins, except for the bad guys."

Ishmael narrowed her eyes and glared at Buffy, as if trying to see through some façade that wasn't there. "You are very strange for a Sith," she said at last.

"Yup. Sure am," Buffy agreed.

About five minutes later, a knock on the door prompted Buffy to turn away and admit Dalen back into the speeder. A few more seconds of chatter and the same unknown Sith Lord's name could be heard, and the door closed again.

"Was my apprentice cooperative?" Dalen asked the Rattataki woman.

"She calls me Ishmael and babbles at length about things antithetical to the Sith," she said with what might have been a smirk. The facial tattoos made it hard to tell.

"Is that so?" Dalen said, amusement creeping into his voice. "Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we? But not now, I think. Let us be off."

* * *

A few minutes later, the speeder stopped again. "Out," Ishmael ordered.

"As you say, boss-lady," Buffy teased, opening the speeder door and hopping out. She was surprised to find herself back at the spaceport.

Dalen was at her side in a moment, and the speeder took off again a second later.

"That wasn't a meeting with Darth Arctis, was it?" Buffy asked.

"How astute of you to notice," Dalen said wryly. "Let us head inside before we head into the city itself. I haven't eaten since we left Vaiken Spacedock."

"Your treat?" Buffy asked.

"Yes," Dalen said suspiciously. "You are my responsibility. Why? I sense mischief from you, Summers."

"No, no mischief here. Just that you've never shared a meal with me after I haven't eaten for a while. I have a very fast metabolism. For a human, that is. I eat a lot."

"Ah. I suppose it is fortunate that I am also quite hungry. We will have plenty of time before we need to head back out into the muck of the jungle."

"I'll drink to that," Buffy said.

Dalen led Buffy to a small cantina near the gate to the arrivals area. They sat down at a table and began to peruse the menu.

"I imagine, Summers," Dalen said, "that you have many questions about the little side trip we just took."

"A few, yeah," Buffy acknowledged.

Dalen sighed and put down his menu. "Very well. I will allow one question for now, and only one. Make it count, Summers."

"All right," Buffy said. She thought about Ishmael, about her weapons, her attitudes, even her facial markings. And then she thought about the snippets of conversation she'd heard coming from outside, and that one Sith Lord's name that she didn't recognize.

"Who is Darth Revan?"


	9. Faith IV - Priorities

**Faith IV – Priorities**

* * *

"Attention passengers: we are now entering Coruscant's atmosphere. Please fasten your safety harnesses and enjoy the view."

Faith chuckled. "The captain seems awfully chipper."

Master Ralto smiled kindly at his no-longer Padawan. "You are one of many on this shuttle who have never been to the Republic's capital before. Most have never seen anything like it."

"Yeah, you said it's like one big city, but I don't get how… Holy. Fucking. Shit."

Faith could sense Master Ralto's scorn at her profanity, but Faith didn't care. Looking out the window, Faith could see the tops of skyscrapers, and they hadn't even descended through the clouds yet. The scale and size of such a thing was too much for her to fathom.

"I sense much excitement in you, Faith," Ralto said with mirth.

"Gee, I wonder what gave that away?" Faith retorted kindly, returning her gaze to the windows as they passed through the cloud cover.

Faith was treated to orderly lanes of flying cars navigating their way through towering skyscrapers and over massive monuments to the Republic's history.

And then…

"Whoa!"

Faith put a hand to her head, which suddenly ached from screams of agony and pain and anger and hurt of all sorts.

A moment later, the feeling was gone.

"Ralto, what the fuck just happened?"

"Mind your tone, Faith. As for what happened," Ralto said with a sad sigh, "see for yourself. Down there."

Faith followed the Nautolan Master's gesture to the ruin of what must have once been a great monument. It looked like it had once been a square complex with towers jutting out at the corners.

"The Sacking of Coruscant," Ralto intoned sadly. "Ten years ago, at the height of battle between the Republic and the Empire, the Sith unexpectedly called for peace. Delegations were sent to meet at Alderaan. All of the senior most Jedi and Republic diplomats were there.

"They pulled a fast one, didn't they?" Faith guessed, eyes following the ruin even as they flew further away.

"I don't know what a 'fast one' is, but if you mean to say that they deceived us, they did. While the Jedi and the Republic prepared for peace, the Empire launched a surprise attack on Coruscant, starting with a shuttle full of Sith crashing into the Jedi Temple itself."

"Whoa," Faith said again. "I'm guessing this tale ends with the Sith breaking their chains, right?"

"You have become awfully interested in the Sith ever since we left Tython," Ralto said carefully. "What prompted this sudden curiosity?"

"I dunno. The showdown with the Bogan warrior, I guess. Getting back to what's down there, I can't help but feel there's something you're not telling me."

"It is a memory I do not wish to revisit, but I was there," Ralto said, and Faith detected a hint of anger beneath the surface as the Nautolan closed his large black eyes and breathed slowly. "I saw the Sith butcher so many of my fellow Jedi, cut down in front of me, and then buried as the Sith detonated bombs both from within and without, leveling the home of the Jedi Order."

"Damn." Faith didn't know what else to say. "So, the war went on, right?"

"No, it did not," Ralto said with a deep breath. "The Empire held Coruscant hostage to obtain the territories and materiel it wanted from the Republic, and then 'peace' was brokered. But it won't last. Already, both sides are testing the other. This is a Cold War now, just waiting to burst into flames."

"Cold War, huh?" Faith said. "No nuke big enough to stop another war, I guess. Hey, I thought that Tython was the home of the Jedi. Now you're saying it's here on Corsica?"

"Coruscant," Ralto corrected patiently. "The Jedi Order began on Tython thousands of years ago, but relocated to Coruscant when the Republic was formed. The Jedi became guardians of the Republic, sworn to uphold and protect it. After the Sacking, however, many in the Republic blamed the Jedi for failing to protect them. We had nowhere to go until Master Shan rediscovered Tython. Once it was found again, we built a Temple there and began to rebuild the Order."

"Wait, stop, go back a bit," Faith said. "How did you lose Tython? I mean, did it just fall off the map? How do you undiscover an entire planet?"

"Navigating hyperspace is not as simple as jumping form point aurek to point besh, Faith. It is a complicated science that I do not fully understand. To put it simply, hyperspace is like an body of water. It has tides that ebb and flow, currents that change direction from time to time. As these currents shift, safe passageways are formed and destroyed. Tython's location was never lost, but the way to it was only recently found by Master Shan."

"Damn. Satele's got some tricks up her sleeve. Or, she would if she had sleeves. Does she always go bare-armed? Not complaining; she pulls the look off really well."

"Attention passengers: we'll be touching down momentarily. Please stand by."

Faith took the moment of silence to contemplate the Grand Master of the Jedi Order if she was a few years younger. Now that would be something to see.

A brief shudder told Faith that they had touched down.

"We have arrived at the Senate Tower Spaceport. Thank you for flying with us, and have a pleasant day."

"I'm glad you brought up the subject of vestments," Ralto said as he unfastened his seat harness.

"Huh?"

"Clothing and armor. Your apprentice's robes will likely not suffice in the tumult of galactic conflict."

Faith snickered. "Yeah, no kidding. Brown and white isn't really my style. They got shops here in the spaceport? I could use some new threads."

"Of course," Ralto said patiently. "I'm sure we can find some suitable garments for you in no time at all."

* * *

"Force grant me strength," Ralto groaned after ninety minutes in the shop. "How much longer are you going to be in there, Faith?"

"Aw, I thought you Jedi were all about patience and serenity, all that jazz," Faith said from within the dressing room.

"That should be 'we Jedi' now, Faith, and you are truly giving us all a bad name. How much longer are you going to be in there?"

"I gotta find a look that works, Ralto. This stuff is important. Not to mention I gotta get a feel for the protective gear. You promise that these threads actually have cortosis in them?"

"Yes, Faith," Ralto said, feeling an ache in his head tresses. "It's weaved into the fabric to allow both for flexibility and for protection. Against a physical attack, however, it might not hold up so well."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you to be so concerned," Faith said. "Don't worry about me: I can hold my own. And I'm coming out now, so give me your honest opinion, okay?"

"I am always honest, Faith," Ralto said, calling upon the Force to heal him of his building stress.

The door to the changing room opened, and Faith stepped out in what had to be the most un-Jedi-like outfit she could have possibly picked. She wore a blood red top that left her arms and shoulders bare, black pants that shone as if they were made from some overly treated animal hide, black boots with incredibly thick heels that increased Faith's height by a good three inches or so, black wristbands that seemed to highlight the ridiculous pattern inscribed on her right upper arm, and she held in her hands a black jacket of some sort that he assumed would cover what her skimpy top did not.

"So, whadaya think?" she asked, twirling about to give him a good look at all angles.

"I think," Ralto said after a few tense moments of silent thought, "that it is a good thing Master Shan agreed to reward you with a decent stipend for a new Jedi Knight, as I will not be seen paying for any of this."

"Don't worry, Ralto," Faith said reassuringly. "I'm not about to go all Queen of the Dark Side on you. I just like this look. Besides, it'll help throw people off guard. They see me, they won't think 'Jedi,' y'know? It's an edge they won't expect."

"Given how tightly those clothes fit on you, I can guess that most human men won't be thinking much at all when they see you," Ralto said with a snort. "I had a human friend when I was a Padawan who came to the Temple dressed like you are right now. The Masters had to keep reminding the human boys that there is no passion, there is serenity.' Those lessons didn't seem to take until she was given proper Jedi robes."

Faith laughed. "Yeah, I'll bet. And you know how much I hate that part of the Jedi Code."

"Faith…" Ralto began.

"Sorry! I don't 'hate' it literally. It's just a way of saying that I don't agree with it, y'know?"

"Yes, I know," the Nautolan Jedi said. "Just be mindful of your words and your feelings. These are important things, especially for a Jedi."

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, Ralto, I'll be careful. Yo, sales boy! Can I pay for these now?"

Ralto hung his head and closed his eyes as he felt a poor young clerk find himself suddenly drawn to Faith in more ways than one.

* * *

Faith tried to ignore the strange looks that people kept shooting her as she walked through the Senate building with Master Ralto, but the feelings she picked up were harder to shrug off. Lust was expected, but fear and anger were something she was unprepared for.

"Don't be so surprised," Ralto chided her. "Your choice of apparel is more appropriate for a Sith than a Jedi."

"What?! Damn, why didn't you stop me, then?"

"I did try, but you were insistent that this is 'your look,' if you recall. Perhaps it can be worked into an advantage, but be ever mindful of your surroundings."

Faith nodded. "You got it, Ralto."

"I notice," the Nautolan Jedi said as they turned into an ornately carpeted hallway, "that you have stopped calling me 'Master' since your elevation to full Jedi."

"Was I supposed to keep doing that?" Faith said idly, more intrigued with the historic paintings adorning the walls than on Ralto's words.

"It is considered proper," Ralto said with a sigh. "You were not raised in our culture, so I can forgive these slights, as they are minor and only wound my pride, which is not a Jedi virtue in the first place. Other Jedi, however, will take issue with what they will see as a lack of respect. Between your lack of regard for my title and your choice of dress, I wonder if perhaps you truly care what others think of you, Faith."

"Should I?"

"Of course you should!" Ralto said harshly, stopping his walk and placing a hand on Faith's shoulder.

Faith bristled a bit at the contact, but did not protest aloud. "Why all the fuss, Ralto?"

"Because, Faith: as a Jedi, your behavior reflects on the entire Order and on the Republic. You are an ambassador of goodwill to the rest of the galaxy, and if you do not take heed of what the people of this galaxy want and need, then you will only serve to harm our efforts and hinder the greater good."

"Damn!" Faith had been expecting a guilt trip, just not one quite that big. "Jedi really are all that, huh?"

"Yes, Faith. Jedi are indeed 'all that' and a great deal more. You would know this if you had paid greater attention in your studies."

Faith shrugged, brushing Ralto's hand from her shoulder and resumed her walk. "Sorry, Ralto. I've never been the studying type. School and I never really got along. This the place?"

"Yes," Ralto said curiously. "How did you know? I thought you hadn't been here before."

"I haven't. I just sorta felt you about to stop here."

"I see. Your connection to the Force is strong, there is no doubt of that. I only hope your judgment proves equal to your capabilities."

"Don't sweat it, Ralto," Faith said as she opened the door and walked into a conference room filled with at least half a dozen men and women in a variety of uniforms and formal work apparel.

"Ah, Master Ralto. Thank you for joining us," a well-dressed human woman said. She had a healthy pale complexion and light brown hair done up in a style Faith had never seen before.

"The pleasure is mine, Senator Kayl. This is my former apprentice, Faith Lehane. She's just been elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight. Faith, this is Senator Vanara Kayl of Coruscant."

The hardly unattractive woman smiled thinly. "Not for much longer, I fear. I made some serious errors in judgment that will likely lead to my forced resignation sometime soon. I am not here as a Senator, but merely as an adviser to the current state of things on Coruscant. I'm sorry I don't have much time to get to know you, Jedi Lehane, but there is much work to be done."

Faith merely nodded. "Sure, no sweat."

Kayl arched an eyebrow at what Faith realized must be an odd phrase for this galaxy, and then walked back to the conference table. "Settle down, everyone. Now that Jedi Master Ralto has joined us, we can discuss recent developments. I know this was going to be a discussion of affairs further away from the capital, but revelations have come to light that cannot be ignored."

"Are you talking about dealing with armed gangs to win your seat, Senator?" a dark-skinned man in white armor sneered.

"If only things were that light and easy to deal with, Major Cortland. No, I'm talking about a report that came in from the Works. A smuggler who's been helping deliver aid to Ord Mantell first delivered the news, and it has since been verified by a Jedi who was also passing through the area on business. People, the Empire has taken up residence in the ruins of the Jedi Temple."

A round of hushed whispers cut through the air. Faith wondered just how sloppy the Republic had gotten if they'd allowed the enemy to land on their capital.  
"Why the Jedi Temple?" Faith asked. "It's already been destroyed. They looking for something buried there, or is it a staging ground for something bigger? And why aren't the Jedi digging through those ruins to look for all the lost artifacts and shit that have to be there?"

"A good question," Major Cortland said, turning his gaze to Ralto. "Did you already know about this? Is that why Jedi Lehane is dressed to infiltrate an Imperial presence?"

"We did not know of this, I assure you," Ralto said. "As to Faith's choice of dress, she assures me that it is normal for her homeworld, which was only discovered in recent months by both the Republic and the Empire."

"Still, the Major does have a point," Senator Kayl said. "Jedi Lehane, you do look remarkably like a Sith. Had you not been in the presence of a renowned Jedi Master, you'd probably be locked up right now if not dead."

"Gee, thanks. Aren't you guys supposed to be at peace?" Faith remarked.

"A mere formality," Kayl said dismissively. "Another war is inevitable, and the Republic has to seize the upper hand. We can't allow a repeat of the Sacking of Coruscant on any Republic world."

"I've been educating Faith in the basics of Sith philosophy and society that we know about in recent days," Ralto said. "She's become unusually curious, but I sense only a desire to do what is right from her. But what is important is that I believe your earlier observation, Major Cortland, presents a plan that we had not previously considered."

"What?" Faith asked. "You want me to go in there alone and pretend to be a Sith? I'm good, but I'm not good enough to take out everything and everyone in a place that big. And there'll probably be real Sith in there, right?"

"Along with a large number of support troops, most likely," Cortland said. "This should be strictly a reconnaissance mission. Get in, take in everything you see, and get out. Don't raise any alarms and don't make any trouble you can't get out of."

Faith chuckled and stretched her arms, highlighting her curves under her tight-fitting outfit. "No promises about making trouble, but I can do this."

"Very well," Ralto said. "Then may the Force be with us."

* * *

Faith was being marched through the muck of the Works with her wrists bound, her lightsaber taken from her, and a small platoon of Republic soldiers flanking her, along with a green-skinned Twi'lek male Jedi she'd never met before.

The Works themselves were a marvel equal of the upper peaks of Coruscant's tallest towers, but in a far different way. A vast network of tunnels and machinery, the Works were the engines that kept Coruscant running. Droids maintained everything so that no self-respecting sentient being would have to come down here in the rust and the grime.

The remoteness and lack of appeal of the Works also made it a perfect hideaway for less than reputable citizens. Or, in the current situation, Imperial soldiers looking to hold their main position at the Jedi Temple, at which one could find one of the Works' many exits.

As Faith and her 'captors' rounded a corner, she reached out in the Force and undid her restraints as she called her lightsaber from the Jedi's robes back to her hand.

The Republic soldiers quickly had their weapons out, but Faith was faster, hurling them all into the sides of the gigantic pipes with a push from the Force. The Jedi was left to square off against Faith unarmed, and a roundhouse kick to the side of his head knocked him out for the count.

Faith rose to her feet and brushed a bit of dust off her clothes. The ruse had hopefully served its purpose, and the soldiers and Jedi would be fine with a bit of rest. Not wasting any more time, Faith strode with all the haughtiness of a Sith Lord down through the pipes, following the map that she'd committed to memory as best she could.

A junction led to a smaller pipe, still large enough to fit a few men side-by-side, and Faith found herself walking upwards. She could hear voices coming from the other end as she approached a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Halt!" a crisp, British-sounding voice said. "Identify yourself."

"Stand down, soldier!" Faith said as imperiously as she could, not breaking her stride. "If you must know, I am Lord Fidelis, and I'm here to inspect this sorry operation."

When Faith emerged from the pipe, she found herself flanked by three soldiers on either side, all standing at attention.

"All right, troops. Back to your posts," Faith said, trying to sound bored.

"Yes, my Lord!" the soldiers said as one.

Faith smiled and sauntered into the ruins of the Jedi Temple, which was even more impressive on the inside. The main chamber was a huge dome of various kinds of stonework, and only some of it lay in ruin. A great deal was intact, and soldiers were standing guard at almost every such inch of the Temple.

So far, Faith hadn't seen any actual lightsaber-wielding Sith, and she hoped she wouldn't run into any. Refocusing her thoughts, Faith set out to do what she was here to do.

Keeping her pace at a stride with her head held high, Faith played the part of the haughty Sith Lord with aplomb if she did say so herself. None of the troops dared to question her, and she only saw a very few Sith apprentices, all of which wielded only training blades.

"You there! Sith!"

Faith looked up to see who had called out to her and saw someone standing on an upper level of the Temple. A rim of whatever passed for concrete in this galaxy remained strong enough to support the weight of people quite high up from the ground.

Faith figured that the man calling her name could only be another Sith himself. Not wanting to disappoint him, Faith drew upon the Force and leaped into the air, flying meters upon meters to land in a crouch next to the other man.

As she rose to her feet, Faith saw that the cloaked man was horribly pale and sickly despite his young age. She'd heard that the Dark Side took a toll on those who wielded it, but Faith hadn't understood until now.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Lord Anev Xydes," the bald young human said. "Who are you?"

"Lord Fidelis," Faith answered in her best commanding voice. "I'm here at the behest of Imperial Intelligence. They want an update on the progress here."

"You don't sound Imperial," Anev Xydes said in a harsh, almost-British voice. "And I received no word of an impending inspection."

"My family's from Corellia," Faith said impatiently. "We serve the Dark Council, same as you, same as Imperial Intelligence. We're all instruments of their will, and you are going to update me on the progress here. Now!"

Faith stared down the Sith man for a few silent moments before he started to smirk. "I must say, in my years as Sith, I've never had the privilege to work aside one as attractive as you, Lord Fidelis. You must have many faithful allies."

Faith let a smirk of her own cross her face, despite the fact that the man in front of her was more repellent than any human man she'd ever met. "You can be one of those allies, Lord Xydes, if you play your cards right."

"`Play my cards?' You Corellians are quite strange, but I take your meaning. But, business first. What do you wish to know?"

"Recent developments," Faith said, trying to remember her 'script,' "have made finding the truth difficult to discern. I understand that Darth Angral's son was recently killed in this very building. That would be under your watch, wouldn't it?"

"Lord Tarnis foolishly exposed himself to the Jedi," Xydes countered hotly. "And his mission was still a success! Darth Angral has the Republic weapon designs and is pursuing the Jedi who murdered his son. That is not your concern."

"You're right," Faith said. "Darth Angral's business is not mine. His son, Lord Tarnis, did die under your watch. Or are you not in charge of overseeing this Temple?"

Xydes grimaced. "Darth Angral does not blame me. Nor should you. Do you understand me, Lord Fidelis?"

Faith grinned predatorily. "Perfectly. Moving on, I'll need a full accounting of your assets here, along with whatever else you need."

Xydes nodded. "I have those documents in my quarters. If you'd care to accompany me there?" he said with a wicked grin.

Faith suppressed the chills that threatened to run down her spine and smiled back. "It'd be my pleasure."

Xydes gestured for Faith to follow him through an arch in the wall. Faith followed him through a short corridor to a room that looked like it did overtime as bedroom, office, and command center.

"Business first," Faith said quickly. "My Master has ingrained a certain set of priorities into my mind. I find it best to follow those priorities."

Xydes nodded, but Faith could sense his lust building as he grew more impatient. As he handed her a datapad of information, Faith fed on his desires by sitting provocatively with one leg crossed over the other as she perused the information.

The first pad was the most important: a roster of all the Imperials stationed here, along with their rank and title, if applicable. Faith saw a number of privates, corporals, and sergeants, only a few lieutenants, and three majors among the military. Twelve acolytes, five apprentices, and Lord Xydes himself were the only actual Sith listed.

The rest could wait, Faith figured, and she tossed the datapads aside. "Prioritizing things can only give a Sith so much satisfaction. I've been too long without the touch of another man who could keep up with me. So many these days are… lacking in the areas that count."

Xydes let out an evil-sounding laugh. "I assure you, Lord Fidelis, I do not lack for anything."

"Then prove it, big boy," Faith said, rising from her seat and stretching her curvaceous body. "Clothes off. Now!"

Xydes rushed to comply, and Faith suppressed a laugh at how easily this Sith was manipulated, but then she remembered the first line of the Sith Code. 'Peace is a lie, there is only passion.' Lord Xydes was nothing if not passionate.

Faith removed her jacket and flipped her boots off her feet. Her pants and top followed until she was only in her black lace undergarments that were her only souvenirs from back on Earth. She pondered keeping them on, wondering which idea she disliked more: her womanhood touching this Sith, or her only piece of home.

Personal comfort won out, and Faith kept her underwear on as she leaped onto Xydes, straddling him as he fell onto his soft, cushioned bed.

"You are quite a woman, Lord Fidelis," Xydes breathed.

"Oh, don't I know it," Faith said with a laugh as she squeezed her thighs closer together.

Xydes's breath became harder and rougher as he groped her body. "Lord Fidelis," he gasped.

"Shh," Faith said with a finger to his lips as she tightened her grip on his torso. "There's a good boy."

Faith traced her finger down from his lips to his chin and then his throat, which she clamped her fingers around and held on tight.

Xydes struggled against Faith's superior strength, but he only used up his remaining air quicker.

"There's a good boy, Xydes," Faith cooed wickedly. "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon."

Xydes's eyes widened with shock and rage, and Faith felt him trying to call on the Force.

With one quick motion, Faith snapped Xydes's neck, killing him instantly.

Scrambling off of the Sith's sickly, pale body, Faith felt the need for a long, deep bath. But first things first. She redressed herself and went over to the array of technology that Xydes would no longer be using.

She saw that his desk station could and was monitoring a number of Republic frequencies, receiving from many and sending to only one, which looked to Faith's amateur eye to be offworld somewhere.

Taking a holo-communicator out of her pocket, Faith pressed a button and waited.

Master Ralto's image flickered into being. "Faith! Are you all right?"

"Just peachy," Faith said, trying to forget the feel of the Sith's clammy skin against her own. "There was only one Sith Lord here, but there are a few apprentices and acolytes, along with some troops. I'm sending you lists of their personnel and gear right now."

"Receiving," Ralto said, and Faith saw him gesture to someone out of her holocom's view. "You said there 'was' only one Sith Lord. Is he…?"

"Dead," Faith confirmed. "Come on over and take your Temple back."

Ralto breathed a sigh of great relief. "Thank you, Faith. You've done a great thing for the Jedi and the Republic. And it's our Temple. Yours mine, and every other Jedi's. Try to make the most of it while we're here on Coruscant. And Faith… Thank you."

Something in Ralto's voice spoke to a level of gratitude that Faith didn't understand, but she didn't question it either. It was unusually pleasant. "You're welcome," she said.

"I'll see you shortly. Ralto out."

The holocom flickered off, and Faith stood in Xydes's study alone. Faith sat down at his desk and decided to pass the time honing her skills with the aurek-besh alphabet. There was a thin paper book in front of her, and Faith began to read aloud to help herself understand.

"'My husband's nightmares grow worse,'" Faith read. "'He speaks of a world covered in perpetual storms and twilight, and he senses a growing darkness.'"

Faith picked up the small book and read the cover.

"'The Journal of Bastila Shan.'"


	10. Buffy V - Who Is Darth Revan?

**Buffy V - Who Is Darth Revan?**

* * *

**SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers for the video game, Knights of the Old Republic; and not-as-major spoilers for the novel, The Old Republic: Revan; are about to hit early in this chapter. You have been warned.**

"I will allow one question for now, and only one," Dalen said. "Make it count, Summers."

"Who is Darth Revan?" Buffy asked.

Dalen looked intently at his menu in lieu of answering Buffy's question, but she could sense his lack of ease in the Force.

"You were not supposed to hear that name, Summers," he said quietly.

"You know I'm not your average human, don't you? The k'lor slugs and tuk'ata back on Korriban were nothing I hadn't faced before I even knew the Force existed. Don't underestimate me, Master," Buffy said with a sarcastic emphasis on Dalen's title.

"You will never learn your place, will you?" Dalen sighed, putting down his menu. "You were given one question, and you made it count. You have earned an answer, but it is a topic of a sensitive nature. It is not something one merely talks about without expecting certain repercussions."

"Is this something classified?" Buffy asked.

"You could say that," Dalen said carefully. "It is information that the Dark Council is not fond of publicizing, if you take my meaning."

Buffy's eyes widened at the implications. Dalen always chose his words carefully, and here he was saying that she'd just stumbled onto a topic that, since the Dark Council disapproved of it, would be punishable by death if anyone found out about it.

Thoughts of Darth Arctis laughing as Buffy cut down Telran and Malra flashed through her head, and in that moment, Buffy had a strong urge to stick it to the Dark Council in any way she could.

"I understand, Dalen, and I'm paying very close attention." She did not mean to offend her Master by calling him by name, but she had a good feeling by now for when certain societal boundaries were to enforced without mercy and when formalities could be put aside.

Now was a time for all formalities to be forgone.

"Darth Revan," Dalen said quietly, "was a Jedi Knight who waged war against the Mandalorians when they invaded the Republic three centuries ago. He defeated them, and to this day, the Mandalorian clans honor their defeat at his hands over Malachor V."

Buffy was lost. "Who are the Mandalorians, and why did they honor the guy who beat them? And how does a Jedi get a Darth title?"

"All things in time, Summers. The Mandalorian clans are warriors without equal. That they posed a threat to the Jedi speaks to their combat prowess. They respect strength above all else, and this makes them natural allies of the Sith. A foe who poses a great challenge, even one that bests them, is worthy of respect among their culture, for that foe has proven himself worthy of the respect of the strong."

Buffy nodded. "Got it. Mandalorians are macho men who like other macho men."

"Whatever 'macho' means, Summers, you are mistaken. The ranks of Mandalorian warriors number men and women equally. Many Mandalorians become bounty hunters, seeking to test themselves against the toughest foes in the galaxy, but do not mistake the lot of them for mercenaries with no code of honor. Respect a Mandalorian, show your strength to him or her, test yourself against them, and you will earn a deadly ally."

"And Darth Revan beat them all," Buffy said, making sure to lower her voice again.

"He did, but he was not a Darth back then. At the time, he was merely a powerful Jedi. Some of this is only rumor substantiated by circumstantial evidence, but we believe that Revan and his ally, Malak, were called to Dromund Kaas by the Emperor, who dominated their minds and made them Sith."

A cold shiver went up Buffy's spine. "The Emperor can do that?"

"Among many things," Dalen said without humor. "But Revan and Malak were strong-willed, even among Jedi. When the Emperor sent them to war against the Republic, he did not count on them freeing themselves of his influence. They could not rebel completely, and they remained Sith, but they fought on behalf of themselves. Revan became Darth Revan, and Darth Malak was his apprentice."

"Given that the Republic's still around," Buffy said, "I'm guessing they didn't succeed."

"You would be only half-right, Summers. During the war with the Mandalorians, Revan had many followers amongst both the Jedi and the Republic military. They call it the Jedi Civil War in the Republic because of how many defected to Revan's banner.

"With Sith being what they are, however, Malak betrayed his Master and presumed him to be dead. But Revan survived, found by the Jedi, who erased his memories and started his life anew in a hope to 'redeem' him to their way of thinking."

"I'm not sensing a happily ever after in this story. Not for everyone, anyway," Buffy observed.

"There is no such thing as 'happily ever after,' Summers. Get that through your head," Dalen said harshly.

Buffy sensed she'd touched a nerve, so she kept quiet.

"Revan eventually regained his memory and defeated his old apprentice," Dalen went on. "He was probably hailed as a hero by the Republic, given that the war ended with the 'Sith' in defeat. Revan and Malak served their purpose, however, and they tested the Republic's mettle ahead of our true invasion. We observed from the shadows, and when the time was right, we retook Korriban and started a war that ended with the Treaty of Coruscant."

"The war's over?" Buffy asked, very confused now. "I thought the Sith were all 'die, Jedi, die!' And I thought that peace was a lie."

"In this case, the peace is an excuse for the Empire to bide its time and prepare for a true onslaught. The Republic also readies for war, have no doubt of that."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. So, was that the end of Revan's story? Or was that just the cliff notes?"

"Cliff notes?" Dalen asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Short version," Buffy clarified.

"Ah, yes. That was, indeed, the 'cliff notes,' as you call them. And it is not the end of the story, but from here on, the truth grows even more difficult to discern. A few years after Darth Malak's defeat, it is rumored that Revan returned to Dromund Kaas. Some believe that he faced the Emperor in combat, and some believe that he emerged triumphant and sits on the Emperor's throne as we speak, held prisoner by the Dark Council.

"What is known to be true," Dalen continued, "is that at the same time that Revan supposedly returned to Dromund Kaas, the Emperor ordered the entire Dark Council purged, along with all of their support staff. Some were killed by the Imperial Guard, while the Emperor himself defeated the remaining Councilors personally. What caused this purge is a mystery, but it served as a reminder to all Imperial citizens that while the Dark Council may be the public face of the Empire, and while they may run its day to day operations, there can be no questioning of the Emperor's supremacy."

Buffy took in all of Dalen's information with rapt attention. She was so absorbed in his tale that she had somehow missed him ordering drinks for the two of them, which a server droid put down in front of either of them.

"What do you believe happened?" Buffy asked as she sipped at her drink, which tasted like a sweet variant of iced coffee.

"Me?" Dalen said with a wry grin. "I do not presume to know anything for certain. I let others guess at mysteries of the past. I concern myself with the future, as should you. This line of discussion is now behind us, Summers. Do you understand?"

Buffy knew that Dalen was trying to send a subtle message; he was crafty like that. She focused on his words. He hadn't said that their conversation was over; it was merely behind them. "Sometimes the past has things to teach us," Buffy said. "I think I understand."

Dalen smiled and hailed a server droid. "I think you do as well. Now, then: what shall we have to eat?"

* * *

"Whew. Now that is one imposing piece of architecture," Buffy said as she and Dalen approached the Imperial Citadel by speeder. The structure towered hundreds of meters above the catwalks that served as 'ground level, which stood at the edge of a canyon that Buffy could not see the bottom of.

"Yes, the Citadel is truly the center of the Empire," Dalen remarked idly. "The structure itself is nothing to fear, Summers. Better to fear the many powerful individuals who wait inside."

The speeder came to a stop at a podium large enough to hold about five coming-and-going speeders, Buffy guessed, or maybe one very small shuttlecraft. There were two other similar podiums off in the distance to either side of her that were just barely visible.

"Those are the entrances to Imperial Intelligence HQ and the Mandalorian Enclave," Dalen said to her unasked question.

Buffy was impressed. "These Mandalorians don't mess around, do they? I mean, the Empire must really not want to tangle with them if they're giving them space in the Citadel."

"The Mandalorian Clans, Summers," Dalen said impatiently, "have earned their place here. There are some who feel that outsiders have no place in these halls, but as the Enclave is quite separate from Imperial Intelligence and the Sith Sanctum, there is no real issue. The Citadel has room enough to spare, and then some."

"Yeah, no kidding," Buffy agreed, daunted by the size of Empire Central, as she called it in her mind. Thoughts of grand towers caused brief, haunting images of the World Trade Center falling on September 11th back home, but the thought of any plane, no matter how big, causing this Citadel to come crashing down… Buffy didn't think it was possible.

A moment later, she recalled her history lesson about the Sacking of Coruscant, and her heart went out to all of the Jedi caught in their Temple when the Sith had crashed into it just before blowing it up. In that moment, Buffy hated herself for being impressed with the Citadel when those inside it had plotted and caused the deaths of so many.

"Be mindful of your feelings, Summers. They betray your misgivings," Dalen warned her.

"Do I look like I give a damn, Master?" Buffy spat, practically snarling the honorific.

"Mind your tone, apprentice!" Dalen hissed, and Buffy immediately took notice of his use of her 'title.' "In this place, of all places, the forms must be observed. Here most of all, you must be Sith."

Despite his harsh tone, Buffy got the impression that Dalen was looking out for her. "Yeah, I understand, Master." She said the title gently, without either worship or disrespect. It had to be said, so she said it. There were probably a hundred Sith nearby more powerful than Dalen who could execute her on a whim. Buffy knew she was strong, but the Force granted powers that were still largely unknown to her, and she didn't want to get herself killed if she could help it.

"Very good," Dalen said crisply. "Follow, apprentice."

Buffy nodded silently and fell into step behind Dalen as they headed inside out of the rain and humidity.

Upon entering the center of the Sith Sanctum, Buffy had a sudden desire to be back outside in the jungles of Dromund Kaas with the wild beasts and the never-ending lightning storms. The cavernous room was lit with red and purple flames that didn't look or feel natural, and the 'floor' was a series of catwalks with just-barely-there railings to keep people from falling into what had to be the planet's core, it went so far down.

More than all of that, however, was the crushing pressure of the Force all around her. Dark and cold and suffocating, Buffy knew that the power of the Dark Side – so strong in this place – would destroy her if she let it.

Calling on memories of Korriban, of slaughtering k'lor slugs in the Tomb of Ajunta Pall as she realized the nature of the Sith Code, Buffy looked inward and remembered her hatred of Darth Arctis, who they were about to meet, and she remembered that there was only passion, from which she gained strength and then power.

The Dark Side's presence no longer seemed to choke her, but now served to invigorate Buffy, and she smirked proudly as she renewed her pace to keep up with Dalen.

Her Master looked upon her with a small smile of his own, and Buffy knew that she had just passed an unspoken test. She smiled to herself, and Buffy was surprised at just how happy she was that she had met Dalen's expectations. Since when was she so eager to please the man?

Those thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of Buffy's mind as she and Dalen came face to face with another pair of masked, red-robed Imperial Guards standing silently in front of an arched portal.

"Send them in," Darth Arctis's voice said over an intercom, and the guards parted to allow Buffy and Dalen to pass.

Buffy felt a renewed anger rise up inside of her, and the feeling of invigoration from the Dark Side's presence in the Citadel greatened. She wanted to kill Arctis so badly, and she suspected she just might be able to.

Dalen led Buffy around a small bend into a small office that could not have been Arctis's usual abode, given its lack of elaborate furnishings.

"Ah, yes. Do come in," Arctis said. "Lord Dalen, I trust you have been enjoying your recent elevation within the Empire?"

"Yes, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord," Dalen said with all the propriety due to a Dark Councilor.

"And I see your apprentice still yearns to kill me. I can feel her anger burning, so pure and hot inside of her. I sense she is eager to test herself against me. What say you, Lord Dalen? Do you think your apprentice skilled enough or powerful enough to best me?"

"She shows great promise, my Lord," Dalen said carefully. "But she is not that powerful. Not yet."

"So there is much untapped potential within her. Good, good. Tell me, apprentice, do you think you are ready to take me on? I can sense your lust for revenge, despite the unpleasant truth that those two acolytes died by your hand, not mine."

That was the last straw for Buffy, who had her lightsaber out and ignited in an instant, and she leaped at Arctis, the Force powering and guiding her.

Arctis stretched out one hand casually and let out a torrent of indigo-colored lightning from his fingertips.

Buffy tried to absorb the blast with her lightsaber, but her blade was positioned to strike at Arctis's throat, and she couldn't move it far enough in time. The full force of the lightning hit her square in the chest, catapulting her backwards into the wall as she screamed in agony and pain.

Buffy felt her world go white as the Dark Side arced over her body and through her nerves and into her heart. The pain was far greater than Willow's conjured blasts had ever been. Her friend's dark powers were a thing of rage. Darth Arctis's lightning was designed to torture, to cause pain. He delighted in suffering, and Buffy felt her anger renewed and stoked even further, and the pain of the lightning only made her want to kill the Dark Lord even more.

Darth Arctis only laughed like a madman. "So willful and impudent. So proud and full of anger and lust for revenge. Oh, you will be a mighty Sith, Summers. One day, you may even surpass me. But that day is not today. Now put away your weapon before I am forced to kill you."

Buffy snarled with rage but felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder with more than just muscle gripping her.

"You heard him, apprentice," Dalen said dangerously. "Stow your lightsaber. Now."

For the briefest of moments, Buffy wanted to cut Dalen down on the spot, but the moment passed quickly. She realized that her Master was trying very hard to make sure she didn't get herself killed, and Buffy knew that she would die if she tried to take revenge on Arctis right now, when she wasn't ready.

Disengaging her blade, Buffy clasped the weapon back to her belt and stood at attention at Dalen's side, hating Arctis all the more, but letting that anger simmer and boil to power her body and let it recover from his electric onslaught.

"Very good," Darth Arctis said approvingly. "And now, to the real business at hand. I and all those under me serve in pursuing the power of ancient knowledge in whatever form it takes. Tomes and scrolls are useful teaching tools, but they are mundane and rarely carry any true power within them. Far more valuable are holocrons that contain the lost knowledge of long dead Sith Lords that live on within their devices, in a certain manner of speaking.

"There are other artifacts as well. Amulets and talismans that hold ancient Sith magicks within them, and there are other things, unknown to us until they come to light in the most unlikely of places."

"I take it, my Lord Arctis," Dalen said, "that you have found such an unknown relic?"

"Actually, it was not I, nor any of my agents, for it was not found in Imperial territory, nor is it in Republic hands. Two weeks ago, an archaeological team on Csilla found an unknown structure of some kind that they were unable to enter. The door only budged very slightly when a certain individual touched it, and she was later proven to be mildly sensitive to the Force. Logic dictates that a true Force wielder would have little difficulty in gaining access to the facility."

"Csilla?" Dalen said curiously. "I was unaware that the Chiss had a history of Force users."

"I do not believe they do," Arctis said carefully. "Or if they do, then it is a carefully guarded secret. The Chiss are a very private people, and while I seldom hold alien opinions to be of any value, the Chiss have proven themselves to be worthy allies. Certain aspects of their technology make war with the Chiss an unappealing prospect."

"How so, my Lord?" Dalen asked, visibly curious.

"The Chiss have developed blasters of a sort unlike ours or the Republic's. They call them 'charrics,' and among many interesting fascinations, they are a rare breed of weapon that cannot be deflected by a lightsaber.

"Many Sith," Arctis continued, "cannot contain their disdain of aliens, and too many within the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge are set in traditional ways and are not accepting of change such as that which our Chiss allies represent. You, Lord Dalen, are more radical in your thinking, and have earned a reputation for finding the usefulness in alien ideas, much to the chagrin of many. My old apprentice, Darth Thanaton, was particularly against your elevation to the rank of Lord, but that is beside the point."

"You want us to go and talk to the Chiss about this thing they uncovered," Buffy said.

"Mind your place, apprentice!" Dalen warned harshly.

"You are wise to restrain your pupil, Lord Dalen," Arctis said. "However, she intuits the matter correctly. The two of you are to travel to Csilla and ascertain the true nature of this discovery. Given that it is located outside of Imperial Territory, and given that we do not wish to provoke a conflict with the Chiss, I am granting you authority to negotiate for possession of the dig site on behalf of the Dark Council. These documents will vouch for that," Arctis said, handing a small packet of datapads to Dalen.

"Now, if you have no questions, be on your way. I have arranged a ship for you and a droid to pilot it. You may find it in Hangar 21-Besh in the spaceport."

"We understand, my Lord," Dalen said.

"Very good. Now begone."

Dalen bowed to the Dark Councilor and left, with Buffy following him after making a point to glower at Arctis without bowing.

"Tell me, apprentice," Dalen said once they were out of Darth Arctis's study, "do you have any particular opinions on snow and ice?"

"Not really," Buffy said strangely, not knowing where Dalen was going with this. "I grew up in a hot area, and after that it was desert-y Korriban, and now humid Dromund Kaas. Why do you ask?"

"Csilla, the Chiss homeworld, is a place where cold is dominant. The warmest parts near the equator are covered in wet snow instead of dry snow, while most areas are covered in ice. I take it you will need new garments to accommodate the change in scenery?"

Buffy shivered at the mere thought of a world full of snow. The one time in Sunnydale had been interesting. A few winters in Cleveland had been unpleasant. But an entire planet of perpetual winter…

"Can I go back and try to kill Arctis again? You don't have to stop me this time."

Dalen shook his head and chuckled.

Buffy merely hung her head and sulked.


	11. Faith V - Fraternization

**Faith V - Fraternization**

* * *

**SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers for the video game, Knights of the Old Republic, are coming up early in this chapter. You have been warned.**

Faith watched on with pride as the Imperial forces from the Jedi Temple were marched into prison transports by white-armored Republic soldiers. There had been a brief firefight, but when it had become clear that they were outnumbered and outmatched, most of the Empire's soldiers surrendered. The Sith-in-training fought to the death, but after her encounter with Xydes, Faith couldn't bring herself to pity them.

Back on what passed for ground level, Faith saw Major Cortland waving her over. Faith sauntered over to him and felt her mouth hang open at the ridiculous gun strapped to his back: it looked like a mini-gun, only larger and probably designed to fire laser bolts. Or maybe grenades. Or possibly high-yield warheads, the thing was so big.

"Compensating, much?" Faith asked with a smirk, gesturing to Cortland's gun.

The bald black human chuckled. "I've had this assault cannon for years, and it's gotten the job done on battlefields all over the galaxy. Sometimes, size does matter."

"Oh, I can vouch for that," Faith said lasciviously, looking the handsome major up and down without subtlety.

"Hey, hey now!" Cortland protested with a deep chuckle. "This is business here, okay? Force knows what my superiors would do if they found me flirting with a Jedi."

"And what if it's just the Jedi flirting with you, handsome?" Faith teased with a smirk.

"Call me Tal," the Major said warmly. "As long as we're speaking informally, that is."

"Nice to meet you, Tal. I'm Faith, in case it slipped your memory."

"Oh, I think you're kinda hard to forget," Tal Cortland said with a smirk.

"Faith!"

The Slayer-turned Jedi groaned under her breath. "I'll get back to you, Tal. Coming, Ralto!" she called to the Nautolan Jedi Master.

Ralto was waiting by a crumbling section of wall inscribed with writings of some kind in a variant of aurek-besh that was even more alien to Faith than the contemporary kind. "What's up?" she asked.

The Nautolan master tilted his head curiously at Faith's choice of words.

Sensing his confusion, Faith clarified, "What's happening?"

"Ah. Well, I was just perusing these teachings here. These writings date back to the time of the Great Hyperspace War," Ralto said calmly.

"Uh huh." Faith didn't know much about the Great Hyperspace War, save that it happened over a thousand years ago. "Does it say anything interesting?"

"It seems to be an historic accounting of a battle," Ralto said softly. "And it might have been lost to us forever if you hadn't taken action to reclaim our Temple. I don't think you realize how deeply the Jedi Order is in your debt. Again, I might add."

"Do the Jedi pay back debts in the form of spa treatments?" Faith asked in as serious a tone as she could maintain.

"I… I don't know," Ralto said, seeming to take her remarks at face value. "Why do you ask?"

Faith shuddered at the memory. "In order to get the Sith off his guard, I had to get closer than I would've liked."

"Closer? Faith, what do you… Oh. Oh, my! Faith, are you all right?" Ralto asked, sounding very concerned.

Faith was touched by the Master's thoughtfulness. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I didn't really understand about what the Dark Side does to a person. Seeing it up close, feeling it on my skin… I feel dirty, Master Ralto. And I've been in some dirty situations before, but this was different."

"Evidently," Ralto said humorlessly. "You just called me 'Master' for the first time in days. If the matter were not so serious, I would find it amusing."

Faith shrugged it off. "Don't worry about me, Ralto. I've been through worse. I just need a good bath, y'know?"

"I think that can be arranged, but not at the Order's expense," Ralto said with the barest hint of a smile.

"You're not quite that indebted to me, are you?"

"No, not quite," Ralto agreed with a full grin. "But we are indeed grateful for all that you've done. I'm sure Grand Master Shan will want to thank you personally."

"Oh! That's right!" Faith said. She pulled out of her jacket pocket the small journal she'd found earlier. "This was in the Sith's study. I think it belonged to a relative of Satele's. Ballista Shan, I think."

"Bastila Shan?" Ralto asked eagerly. "Please, let me see that."

"Sure thing," Faith said, handing the journal over to the Nautolan Master.

Ralto gingerly opened the volume to its first page and read silently before turning the page after a few seconds. Faith guessed that he was only skimming it.

"This is a direct account of the climax of the Jedi Civil War," Ralto said, his voice barely above a whisper. "A direct account of the Battle of the Star Forge."

"Really? That must only be the first bit," Faith said. "It was open to somewhere in the middle when I found it. Her husband, or was it his husband? Do you guys do gay marriage out here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you're implying that Bastila Shan was a man, then you would be very wrong. She was a human woman."

"Right. So, she was talking about her husband having nightmares about some stormy world covered in shadow or something like that," Faith said. "Does that have anything to do with whatever the Star Forge is?"

"Not much is known about the Star Forge," Ralto admitted. "All that is generally known is that it was a factory that the fallen Jedi, Revan and Malak, used to create a vast armada to challenge the Republic three hundred years ago."

Faith shrugged. "Was it on a stormy world?"

"No, it was in orbit of a world that I couldn't tell you how to find. It's been erased from galactic records, which says something about how dangerous it was," Ralto said. "This journal might be able to tell us Revan's final fate."

"Revan? I thought you said he was a fallen Jedi?" Faith queried.

"He was redeemed by the Jedi, notably Bastila Shan, who would go on to become his wife," Ralto explained. "Ironically enough, Bastila herself was briefly turned to the Dark Side by Revan's friend and later apprentice, Malak. Revan later returned the favor and redeemed her, and together they defeated Malak."

"Heavy stuff," Faith said, though she truthfully wasn't following Ralto's history lesson all that closely.

Ralto closed the journal carefully and tucked it into a pocket in his robes. "Come, Faith. We should report back to the Senate Tower and take stock of the situation."

"Right with you, boss-man," Faith said.

Ralto shook his head and sighed at the strangeness of the Jedi Order's newest Knight.

* * *

"Ahhh."

Faith was immensely enjoying the bath in her temporary quarters in a guest wing of the Senate Tower for VIPs. It had been too long since she'd been able to bathe in style, and Coruscant did style very well. The bubbles were of all different colors and scents, and the stink of Anev Xydes was almost completely forgotten.

Closing her eyes, Faith let herself sink underwater and bask in the warmth of the bath and the feel of the bubble jets massaging her skin.

A strange sound caught Faith's ear, and she came up for air. She heard it again and recognized her holocom beeping.

Groaning in frustration, Faith knew that Ralto wouldn't have called her unless it was urgent. Reaching over the edge of the tub, she picked up her com device and turned it on.

Unexpectedly, it was not Ralto on the other end, but Major Cortland.

Faith couldn't help herself and flashed a sexy smirk at the handsome officer. "Well, hey there."

"What the… Faith, what the hell's going on?" Cortland said quickly, clearly flustered.

"Is there some kind of emergency, Tal? 'Cause if there isn't, I'm in the middle of some important me time. Enjoying the view?" Faith teased, letting her body rise just enough above the surface of the water to grant the Major a nice view of her cleavage.

"You could say that," Cortland said carefully. "However…"

"Hey, Major!" a young male voice called from somewhere in the background on the other end. "Who is that?"

"Damn!" another very male voice said. "That is one fine-looking woman. How much is this call costing you?"

"Guys…" Tal Cortland said harshly, clearly trying to get a rein on his men.

"Hey there, hot stuff," a man said, pushing Tal aside and coming into the field of view. "Lieutenant Tyrus Bentley. So very pleased to meet you."

"Down boy," a female voice said on the other end, and Faith smiled at the antics playing out in front of her. The view shifted to show a woman with a patch over her left eye. "Is the Major giving you any trouble? I can hit him if you want."

"No, you can't," Cortland said, hauling the com unit back so that he was in the field of vision. "I see you've met my squad, Jedi Lehane."

A collective cry of "Jedi?!" could be heard on the other end of the holocom.

Faith simply chuckled, more than amused by the soldiers' antics. "Semper fi, ladies and gents!"

"Huh? What was that, Faith?" Cortland asked.

Faith mentally smacked herself on the head. "It's the motto of part of the military back home. 'Semper fidelis' is a call of unity in the Corps. It means 'always faithful.'"

"Ah. Now I see where 'Lord Fidelis' comes from," Cortland said.

"You're lookin' at her," Faith said with a smile. "So, what's up? Why the call?"

"Oh, right. Well, my superior, Colonel Walburn, wanted to debrief you and Master Ralto on the raid of the Jedi Temple. Ralto said you were busy, but Colonel Walburn insisted that I talk to you directly."

"Ah, so Walburn's got a thing for hot Jedi chicks who look good in leather, is that it?"

"Oh, Force, no! Don't even say that! He just celebrated his thirtieth anniversary, for goodness' sake!" Tal said with shock. "Please, don't get me demoted."

"I dunno," Faith said mischievously. "Do the penalties for fraternizing with a Jedi go down if you get demoted?"

Tal laughed. "If only," he said with what Faith was certain was genuine lust. "Just hurry it up, please. Walburn's not the most patient of officers."

"Did you just give me an order?" Faith asked with mock astonishment. "Yo, eyepatch girl! You can hit him now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the soldier said, and Tal was rubbing his shoulder a moment later. The woman's face appeared in portrait a moment later. "And it's Lieutenant Vira Septus, Jedi Faith. Not 'eyepatch girl.' Got it?"

Faith saluted Lieutenant Septus. "Aye, ma'am!"

"Good Jedi. Here's the Major again."

"Thank you, Vira," Cortland said with a glare shot to his side. "So, Faith: get clean, get over here. See you soon. Cortland out." The holocom flickered off.

Putting the device down, Faith got out of the tub and began to dry herself off. She'd been clean for a while, and had just been indulging in the niceness of the bath.

"Ah, well. Back to work."

* * *

Faith met Master Ralto in a red-carpeted hallway between their two rooms. The Nautolan held a brown robe over one arm.

"Please put this on, Faith," he said, sounding weary already.

"Everything okay, Ralto?" Faith asked.

"Yes, things are fine, but the brown robe of a Jedi is considered to be formal and proper, and for a military debriefing, I would like to maintain at least a semblance of propriety."

"Huh? Smaller words, please?" Faith requested.

"I'd like you to look like a Jedi, Faith," Ralto clarified. "And keep this robe with you. You can wear it over the nothing you call 'your style' easily enough, can't you?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Faith said taking the robe and putting it on. "Didn't know it was that big a deal. Sorry for all the fuss."

"Yes, well, it isn't as much of a fuss as I make it out to be, most likely, but there are situations where it could become a bigger deal. Now then, please follow me."

Faith nodded silently and fell in behind Master Ralto, who led them both to a small conference room one level below their accommodations.

When they entered, Faith saw Senator Kayl sitting at one end of the table. Major Cortland, Lieutenants Septus, Bentley, and two other male soldiers took up most of the other seats, and a man with shortly-cropped gray hair in a dress uniform sat at the end of the table opposite Senator Kayl.

"Thank you for taking the time out of your day to join us," the gray-haired man said snidely. "We haven't been introduced. My name is Colonel Wilhelm Walburn. Master Ralto, I trust the delay is due to your former apprentice's business?"

"His former apprentice has a name, you know," Faith shot at the old man. "Call me Faith, and don't talk about me as if I ain't here, got it?"

Walburn arched a critical eyebrow and glared at Major Cortland. "You were right, Major. She is not like most Jedi."

"No, she isn't," Faith said. "What did I just say about talking about me as if I'm not here, jackass?"

"Faith!" Ralto exclaimed. "Mind your tone, please!"

"No, I want to hear what sort of beef the Colonel has with me," Faith said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I do not have any 'beef' with you, Jedi Faith," the Colonel sneered. "I merely wish to run this operation with proper military efficiency. Since you are now all here, I would like for you to present the facts of the operation, as best you recall them, to myself and Senator Kayl. Since you were the first on the scene, Jedi Faith, it would be best if you went first."

"That's more like it," Faith said. "About eight of your boys and girls in white and one Jedi were escorting me through the Works, treating me like a prisoner. I 'escaped' and made for the Temple. I told the Imp guards that I was Lord Fidelis from Imperial Intelligence, just like we planned. They let me pass, and I met up with the only actual Sith Lord there. Guy's name was Anev Xydes, and he was a creep. I got him to give me info about all the troops and equipment and shit the Sith had stocked up in the Temple, and then I got him to strip so I could-"

"I'm sorry," Colonel Walburn interrupted. "You what?"

"Did you go deaf or something? I got him to strip. Seduced him with my feminine wiles and such. Got on top of him and started to choke him. He started to call on the Force, and I snapped his neck. Called you guys, and you came running."

"I see," Colonel Walburn said carefully, stroking his bare chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Major Cortland, your report, please?"

Faith shot the Major a smile and then tuned out the retelling of the 'battle' that she knew by heart anyway. Cortland and a bunch of Republic troops had shown up in dropships, taken out the Sith acolytes and apprentices, and shot at a few Imperial soldiers before one of the officers called for surrender. Another officer had dissented, and he was promptly reminded that Republic courts were more merciful to criminals than Sith Lords were to failed troops.

After Cortland gave his report, Vira Septus told the same story from her point of view, and Tyrus Bentley after her, followed by the two troops she hadn't met yet. None of it was news to Faith, but she could feel the camaraderie the soldiers had for each other. It was plain as day in the Force that they had each others' backs no matter what, and that they were very proud of the operation they'd just pulled off.

"Very good, all of you," Colonel Walburn said when the final soldier had given his side of the story. "Master Ralto, do you have anything to add?"

"Only that it is my fervent wish that the Jedi can begin excavating the ruin as soon as possible," Ralto said.

"You'll have your chance, Master Jedi," Walburn promised. "But first we need to make sure that the area is secure. The Imperials might have left something behind."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Senator Kayl said, holding a datapad in her hand. A young page had just left the room. Faith figured she was too lost in thought to have picked up on him delivering the message. "Lab results just came back on a compound the Imperials had in a lockbox. If this is accurate, which I'm afraid it appears to be, the Empire was planning to unleash a new strain of the Rakghoul plague on Coruscant."

"What?! Let me see that," Walburn said harshly, snatching the pad from Kayl's clutches. "This is… This is monstrous!"

"What's the Rakghoul plague?" Faith asked, sensing a wave of unrest throughout everyone in the room.

"A deadly virus," Major Cortland explained. "Anyone infected becomes a Rakghoul: a monster that preys on anything it can get its claws on, especially other sapient beings. And if one of them lands enough of a blow on you, then you get infected as well. I thought we caught a break with that?" Cortland asked Walburn. "Didn't someone find a vaccine on Taris?"

"Yes, they did," Walburn said. "But that was for the original strain. The Empire seems to be preparing for such a cure and are readying a more virulent strain of the plague."

Faith felt the page return and saw him hand another pad over to Senator Kayl. "Listen to this," Kayl said. "One of the Imperial officers confessed that they received the new strain from an Imperial outpost on Taris. The Imperial Reclamation Service was uncovering some sort of ruin and decided to take the time to 'reclaim' the Rakghoul virus and develop this new strain. If we want to cut this off at the source, I'd say it's there."

"I agree, Senator," Walburn said. "Major Cortland, I want you to handle this, but I can't spare too many of the Bloodhounds right now, what with the upcoming operation on Balmorra. Choose one of your officers to accompany you and put another in charge for the time being."

"Yes, sir," Tal Cortland said. "Vira, any objections to a trip to Taris?"

"No, sir," Lieutenant Septus said. Faith noted that her eyepatch was made of metal and had no straps to hold it in place. Her skin looked burnt around the metal patch.

"Very good. Tyrus, the Bloodhounds are in your hands until I come back. You up to the job?"

"Yes, sir, Major," Bentley said.

"Good man. Colonel, before we ship out, I'd like to request that Master Ralto and Jedi Lehane accompany us. Faith did an excellent job at the Temple, and I think we could use a Jedi or two on Taris. Force knows how many Rakghouls are on that planet."

Colonel Walburn turned to Ralto. "Master Jedi, do you have any objections to Major Cortland's request?"

"I'll have to take it up with the Jedi Council first," Ralto said patiently, "but I doubt it will be a problem. As to Faith's participation, she is no longer under my tutelage and is not mine to command."

"Hey, we do make a good team," Faith said. "Count me in."

"Then it's settled," Senator Kayl said. "The four of you will ship out for Taris as soon as possible. May the Force be with us all."


	12. Buffy VI - Csilla

**Buffy VI - Csilla**

* * *

"Wait a sec! The Chiss live underground?"

"Indeed, they do," Dalen said with a smirk. "And their cities are heated. Are you sure you aren't a bit overdressed for the environment, Summers?"

Buffy scowled at Dalen from under her heavy vine cat-fur hoodie, under which she wore a full set of insulated, black-dyed gundark-hide clothes with cortosis weaved into them. "You could've warned me that we wouldn't be going out into the cold immediately. Or at all."

"Oh, we'll certainly be going out into the cold eventually," Dalen said. "But to miss the look on your face… That pout you're wearing is quite cute."

"Cute?!" Buffy pulled down her hood and looked at her Master strangely. "I didn't think the Sith did 'cute.' What's up with you?"

Dalen laughed. "Is it so strange that Sith can find things to be aesthetically pleasing?"

"Huh?"

"Good-looking," Dalen clarified.

"So," Buffy said with a smirk of her own. "You find me good-looking, do you?"

"Don't embarrass yourself, Summers," Dalen said wryly. "It's obvious that you're a remarkable specimen of female human beauty. It's something that you can and should use to your advantage as a Sith. Controlling the desires of others is key to manipulating them."

"Ah, so you're a charmer, are you?" Buffy asked, still smirking.

"When I want to be, I suppose," Dalen said with a disarming smile.

Buffy suddenly felt her stomach do a cartwheel inside of her, and she realized that Shar Dalen was definitely a handsome man. He looked kind of exotic with his well-cropped black hair, pale blue eyes and healthy complexion.

"Mind your feelings, Summers," Dalen reprimanded with a chuckle. "They betray you."

"Uh, right. Sorry. Minding my feelings now," Buffy said, quickly looking away from Dalen and instead focusing on the suddenly-interesting architecture of their own private ship, courtesy of Darth Arctis.

It was a Fury-class personal transport, armed and armored well enough for a ship much larger and quite comfortable on the inside. It had also been full of surveillance devices and hidden explosives that would surely be used against them if they decided to betray Darth Arctis. Buffy and Dalen had carefully swept the ship to find every hidden trap that they could before destroying or disarming them.

The droid that had been provided to pilot the ship also had to be reprogrammed to prevent it from reporting back to Darth Arctis. Fortunately for the mechanically-inept Buffy, Dalen had proved a capable enough engineer.

While Buffy kept concentrating on just how well-polished the interior of the ship was, the pilot droid was talking to a Chiss at ground control.

"Imperial transport _Bronze_, you are cleared to land at docking bay 57," a woman said over the intercom.

"This is Imperial Transport _Bronze_. We copy. Docking bay 57. Over and out."

"Where does that name come from?" Dalen asked. "When you asked to name the ship, I saw no reason to object unless it was something inappropriate, but I do confess to a certain amount of curiosity."

Buffy looked down at the floor of the ship to prevent her memories from overtaking her. Remembering all of the vampires she'd found there, all of the innocent people who'd been killed before she arrived in Sunnydale, Buffy let her anger simmer and used it to suppress her surface feelings.

"The Bronze was a place where my friends and I would hang out when we were younger. It was one of our little havens away from the bad stuff about life in Sunnydale," Buffy explained.

"So, you want this ship to represent a safe haven for you, then?" Dalen intuited.

"Huh." Buffy pondered Dalen's words. "I hadn't really thought about it quite like that, but I guess you're right. Moving onto more important stuff: What should I wear? I mean, what's 'in' with Chiss fashion these days?"

"I couldn't rightly say," Dalen answered. "But your gundark-hide vestments are appropriate enough for a Sith, and should keep you comfortable. A hooded cloak would not be out of place, either."

"Fur-lined?" Buffy asked with a touch of hope. She didn't feel as bad about wearing fur when she'd killed the vine cat herself before it could maul her to death.

"I don't believe that would be quite as appropriate, but the choice is yours. As are, in all things, the consequences," Dalen warned.

Buffy felt a chill that she doubted had anything to do with their impending landing on Csilla.

* * *

The Chiss capital city of Csaplar was unlike anything Buffy had ever seen before. A massive cavern surrounded by glittering crystals of ice, Csaplar was a treat for the eyes. Tunnels led away from the main cavern in all directions that Dalen said led to different districts of the capital or to other cities entirely. The entire planet was connected by a series of interconnected tunnels.

"Csilla is not a dump truck," Buffy said, remembering a funny thing a politician had said once back on Earth. "It's a series of tubes."

"Indeed," Dalen said, accepting his apprentice's oddities as normal background noise by now. "Our arrangements are at the Imperial Embassy, which my map tells me is a few blocks down from here. Follow, Summers."

"Summers?" Buffy asked. "Not 'apprentice?'"

"This is not Imperial space," Dalen said carefully. "The Chiss are a very private, very formal people, but their forms are different from ours. I wish to provide a more unified front when speaking with them. To that end, I would rather have us speak with more familiarity than we would in the Sith Sanctum, for example."

Buffy sensed there was more to Dalen's choice than what he had voiced, but she nodded along with him. "I understand, Dalen."

"Good. It's just over here, now."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "Kinda hard to miss."

Most Chiss buildings were made out of a blue-black metal of some sort, and they tended to be painted with colorful and elaborate patterns. The Imperial Embassy was painted all in black and had red banners bearing the Imperial seal streaming from every tiny overhang that could be found in the architecture.

A pair of black-armored Imperial soldiers flanked the door to the Embassy and remained silent and attentive as Dalen and Buffy went inside. Soldiers guarded everything in the Empire, and Buffy was finding it increasingly easy to ignore them, especially since their faces were covered by their helmets.

A human woman in an officer's uniform approached them. She was short even compared to Buffy. "My Lords, we are honored by your presence. Accommodations have been arranged for you both on the second level. May I show you to them, my Lord?"

"Very well, Lieutenant," Dalen said, sounding bored. "Proceed."

"Yes, my Lord." The short brunette lieutenant bowed to Dalen and led him up a set of stairs. Buffy followed, idly wondering if the pale, sparkling staircase was made of ice or some material that she wasn't familiar with. Whatever it was, she didn't feel herself about to slip.

Buffy watched as the lieutenant showed Dalen his room at the end of a hall on the second level, wondering if Csaplar had hot water, or if she'd be forced to bathe in ice water.

"My Lord?" the Lieutenant said.

It took a few moments for Buffy to realize that Dalen and the lieutenant were both looking at her. Why was she being addressed as a lord?

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Buffy managed at last.

"Your room is just over here, my Lord."

Shooting Dalen a quick look, Buffy saw him nod his approval.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Buffy said, moving in to inspect her room.

A low whistle was Buffy's opinion of the lavish arrangements laid out for her. A large, soft-looking bed with black sheets sat atop a lush red carpet, and shelves of Sith manuscripts lined the walls.

The bathroom had a very modern, very Imperial-looking set of apparatuses, and a quick inspection of the sink and tub revealed the existence of not only hot water, but of a kind of bubbly soap that Buffy had never seen before, but was certain to try out when she had a spare moment.

"Don't get too comfortable, Summers," Dalen called from outside the room.

Buffy scowled and went back to meet Dalen in the hallway. "Why did you let that woman call me 'lord,' Dalen?"

"If you must know," Dalen said frankly, "in the Empire, all Sith, be they Dark Councilors or merely acolytes, are a station above the rest of the citizenry, and 'my Lord' is the appropriate form of address for all real Sith. It does not change your actual station, but despite being my apprentice, you are still one of the most powerful beings in the Empire. Just be mindful that there are still many above you, and be sure not to tolerate overly familiar treatment from those beneath you."

"Beneath me?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Yes, Summers. Beneath you," Dalen said with emphasis. "You are Sith. You are an embodiment of strength, power, and victory. If you allow lesser beings to equate themselves with you, then you weaken yourself whether you realize it or not."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't buy that."

"It wasn't a question or a request," Dalen said, his voice turning cold. "Mind your place at all times and places, but also be mindful that your place may shift from situation to situation. Your place on Csilla is far different than it was on Korriban or Dromund Kaas, for example. The people in this embassy are beneath us, Summers. The Chiss outside of this building cannot be treated as anything more or less than equals, lest we risk our alliance with them."

"I got it already!" Buffy said. "Geez, I get it. I'm a Sith. Yay for me."

"Indeed. This visit was merely to get settled. Our next stop is the office of the archaeological company that excavated the ruin. We're going to take stock of what is already known. I'd also like to interview the Force-sensitive Chiss and get her take on the situation."

"Right," Buffy said. "But we get to come back here to soft sheets and hot water and bubbles later on, right?"

Dalen stared at Buffy silently for a moment before turning and walking back towards the staircase, shaking his head.

Buffy followed, and she could have sworn she heard Dalen cursing the word 'bubbles' under his breath.

* * *

"Is your translator working, Summers?"

"How should I know?" Buffy said, adjusting the earpiece that she'd been provided by the embassy staff.

"It appears to translate Sy Bisti well enough," Dalen said.

"Wait. You just spoke to me in a different language?"

"I did," Dalen confirmed. "Sy Bisti is a language used mostly by traders and smugglers in the closest civilized systems outside the Chiss Ascendancy. Most Chiss will not understand or speak Basic, so we'll have to hope that these devices translate Cheunh as well as they do Sy Bisti."

"Right. Understanding each other, good," Buffy said to herself.

"Here we are," Dalen said as they came to what might have been an office building back on Earth. It was a rectangular tower made of the same blue-black metal as most other buildings in Csaplar, and it had three columns of symbols painted on the window. The symbols were all either yellow or green, and Buffy only recognized one of them.

"That one," she said, pointing to a green pentagon split into three segments. "That's the symbol of the company, right?"

"Good eye, Summers. We do have the right building. Inside."

Buffy followed Dalen, who was talking to a receptionist about where to find the office of Chief Archaeologist Sinn'apr'olantt. The fact that Buffy could keep up with the elaborate Chiss name, as well as the English-sounding words coming from the receptionist, told her that the translator was doing its job.

"This way, Summers."

Buffy followed, only to be hit by a delayed realization. "You said 'good eye' when I caught the symbol, Dalen."

"What of it?" he asked as they entered a lift.

"That's an Earth phrase. That's something I might've said."

"Very true, Summers," Dalen said with a wry smile. "Your world, however primitive you make it seem to be, has a fascinating culture to it. I can sense just by the way you speak that you could probably teach us all a great deal."

"Huh. I don't think you'd find many Sith who agree with you," Buffy observed.

"Most Sith are too proud to admit that good ideas can come from non-Sith sources. Ah, here we are."

The lift deposited the two Sith conveniently in front of a door bearing the same segmented pentagon that Buffy had observed earlier.

Dalen knocked on the door with the back of his hand.

A well-built Chiss male answered the door, and Buffy was struck by how the species looked up close. She'd seen Chiss walking by in the streets earlier, but seeing the blue-skinned Chiss with their glowing red eyes up close was certainly a different experience entirely.

"You must be Lords Dalen and Summers," the Chiss said bluntly. "Please, enter."

Buffy wasn't sure if it was a cultural misunderstanding or an urge to be polite that had her pegged as 'Lord Summers,' but she followed Dalen's lead and uttered a quick 'thank you' to the Chiss and stepped into the room.

Buffy had been expecting an office with cubicles and desktop computers and printers whirring in the background. She had not been expecting a hustle and bustle of white-clad Chiss moving bits and pieces of stone and icy crystal to and fro. Pictures of various dig sites adorned the walls, and the displays were divided into neat and distinct areas that Buffy imagined must hold a separate piece of buried history.

"I told you they were at the door already," a Chiss female said, and Buffy could sense her frustration in the Force. She looked to be about Buffy's age, and she had her blue-black hair in a ponytail with a few bangs hanging just over her left eye. Buffy thought she looked quite fashionable, save for the bland white uniform.

"And it appears I must learn to trust your judgment more often," an older Chiss male said. His hair was black with the smallest hints of grey in it, and it was cropped short in a style similar to Dalen's. Buffy couldn't help but notice that all of the Chiss in the room looked to be well-built and healthy by human standards.

"I apologize for my colleague's rudeness," the older Chiss said. "I am Chief Archaeologist Sinn'apr'olantt. I have noticed, however, that off-worlders often have difficulty with Chiss full names, so if you wish, you may call me by my core name of Naprol."

"You do us both great honor, Chief Archaeologist Naprol," Dalen said. "I am Lord Shar Dalen, and this is my apprentice, Buffy Summers."

"And it is my honor to meet an off-worlder with such respect," Naprol said kindly. "Do you not have anything to say yourself, Lord Summers?"

Buffy was taken aback for a moment, unused to people in authority talking to her directly unless they were sadistic Dark Councilors who were trying to goad her into reckless action. "I'm sorry, Chief Archaeologist," Buffy said quickly. "In the Empire, I'm not usually asked for my opinion, since I'm not technically a lord yet. It's a pleasure to meet you, though, and I hope that we can all get inside this building you found and see what's inside."

Naprol inclined his head in what Buffy suspected was a gesture of approval. "It seems that not all Sith have such a high opinion of themselves that they look down upon others. It is a privilege to meet two Sith such as yourselves. As to the reason why you are both here-"

"I can update them on that, Chief Archaeologist," the same Chiss female said impatiently.

Buffy looked at her more carefully, and she sensed that this was the Chiss who had made the door to the ruin move. She certainly stood out in the Force compared to the other Chiss in the room.

"Again, I must beg forgiveness for my colleague," Naprol said. "She speaks out of turn."

"It's quite all right," Dalen said. "I do believe that this is the woman who was able to gain a reaction from the ruin. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," Naprol said carefully. "When the Sith who tested her first told me about this 'Force,' I was skeptical. Having observed the behavior in this room, however, I must revise my earlier preconceptions. Lord Dalen, Miss Summers, this is Excavator Mitth'ris'sintar. I suppose it would be best if she told you about her experience. Shall we move this conversation to my office and sit down?"

"That would be wonderful, Chief Archaeologist," Dalen said.

Buffy followed Dalen and the two Chiss into a small office adorned with only a simple desk and a shelf full of datapads.

Naprol pushed a button on his desk and the room lit up with green lights in a number of patterns on the walls and ceiling, and benches unfolded from the walls.

Buffy sat next to Dalen on one bench with the female Chiss taking the other and Naprol sitting behind his desk.

"Now then," Naprol said, "what do you wish to know?"

"First of all," Dalen said, "I ask your forgiveness, Excavator, but as Chief Archaeologist Naprol pointed out earlier, my apprentice and I are unfamiliar with Chiss full names, and we do not wish to appear foolish or insulting by mispronouncing them. May we have the honor of addressing you by your core name?"

"Gladly," the Chiss female said with a laugh. "You may call me Thriss, Lords Dalen and Summers. Perhaps it is because of this Force that I am told about, but I have always had difficulty with social conventions. I can sense what people around me are feeling, and observing the social graces always seemed so unnecessary."

"You sensed us before we walked in the door," Buffy said. "Is that right?"

"It is," Thriss said. "You are both so much more powerful than any Chiss I have ever met. You both feel warm in a way that I cannot put into words. Especially you, Lord Summers. You feel hotter and brighter compared to anyone else I have ever met."

Buffy felt her face flush at the Chiss's words, and she immediately felt Dalen's anger begin to build.

Buffy looked at the usually cool and collected Shar Dalen and sensed a growing anger inside of him. Then it hit her: Thriss had pretty much come out and said that Buffy was the more powerful of the two of them!

"I appreciate your directness, Excavator Thriss," Dalen said crisply, "and I would appreciate it even more if you could apply that directness to what you found at the dig site, please."

"It would be my pleasure, Lord Dalen," Thriss said. Despite her words being directed at Dalen, Buffy felt the Chiss's eyes on her instead. "I believe you have the recordings of the site, Chief Archaeologist."

"Yes, I do," Naprol said, fetching a datapad from his shelf and plugging it into a slot in his desk.

The green lights on the far wall disappeared, replaced by a video recording of a ruin in the ice. The footage was distant, and Buffy could make out a building made of some sort of stone, poking through the ice that was being chipped and melted away, but not much else.

"That material that the ruin is constructed from," Dalen said. "Is that native to Csilla?"

"As best we can determine, it is not," Naprol said. "With your permission, we would like to compare our notes against materials found on Imperial worlds to determine if there is any correlation to be found."

"I don't see why that would be a problem," Dalen said politely. "I'll put you in touch with the Imperial Reclamation Service, as they would be the ones to talk to regarding such a matter. Now, before you made your progress, Thriss, what other efforts had been made to open the ruin?"

It was Naprol who spoke next. "We found the apparent opening to the ruin as you see it here" he said, and the video of the dig site from afar was replaced by a still image of a pair of stone doors several meters tall. There was a symbol etched on them that Buffy had never seen before: it vaguely resembled a cross in only the vaguest sense. It was more like a vertically-elongated diamond formed around what looked like an egg.

"The symbol is not in our records," Naprol went on. "We were hoping it might be something out of Sith history, perhaps from the past before the ice age that hit Csilla almost 1500 years ago."

That caught Buffy's attention. If Csilla had only become covered in ice less than two thousand years ago, then the Chiss had built an entire civilization of underground cities that covered the planet in less time since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Buffy mentally told herself to never underestimate the Chiss's competency.

"Excavator Thriss was part of the team attempting to open the ruin," Naprol said.

"Thank you, Chief Archaeologist," Thriss said, and Buffy detected a hint of resentment from Thriss directed at her superior. "The others in my team were so intent on analyzing the properties of the stone and making sure that they wouldn't damage the ruin that they overlooked the energy it was giving off."

"We've been over this, Excavator," Naprol said impatiently. "There was no energy being emitted."

"None that you could detect," Thriss shot back. "But to a Sith, this could be something very normal. I could feel it, Chief Archaeologist. I reached out to the door, expecting it to open at my mere touch. A foolish notion, I know, but I could not help what I felt."

"It is understandable for a Force-sensitive individual such as yourself to experience such feelings," Dalen said.

"What else did you try before it budged?" Buffy put in, not wanting to seem too timid to the Chiss.

"I tried getting into the gap between the two doors with various instruments to pry them open. After that, I tried chipping away at the stone with small tools, but they made no impact at all. I couldn't even find trace amounts of the tools on the stone after they had definitely made contact."

Buffy felt a flash of insight in her mind, and she was suddenly seeing the dig site through Thriss's eyes.

"You got angry," Buffy said carefully, not fully aware of her own speech. "You got angry because you could feel the key to this ruin that none of your colleagues could. You felt you had a right to get inside, and you fed your anger into the ruin, and that's when it budged."

Although the Chiss's lack of pupils made their facial expressions hard for Buffy to read, she felt the surprise from Naprol and the vindication from Thriss.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's it exactly! I told you, Chief Archaeologist! I told you all that this was what happened, but you dismissed my theories out of hand!"

"If this is true," Dalen said, eagerness creeping into his voice, "then this is most likely a relic of the Dark Side of the Force. Whether it is from an older Sith Empire or else another spacefaring civilization, I would like to ask permission, on behalf of the Empire, to accompany you to the dig site when next you head out there. My apprentice would accompany us."

"This isn't a governmental affair," Naprol said fairly, "but as the Chief Archaeologist for this project, I would like to extend my invitation to both of you to examine the site for yourselves. I imagine you'd like for Excavator Thriss to join us as well?"

"I think so," Buffy said, catching the gaze of the female Chiss. "She has gotten more results than anyone else, right?"

"She has, indeed," Thriss said with smug satisfaction. "With your permission, Lords Dalen and Summers, I would like to accompany you for a while."

"Excavator Mitth'ris'sintar!" Naprol reprimanded. "You are not in any position to make demands of our Sith guests."

"It's fine," Buffy said, and she sensed Dalen's displeasure. "I take it you're curious about the Force and the Sith?"

"Very much so," Thriss said eagerly. "It would provide so many answers to questions I've had all my life."

"I bet," Buffy said with a smile. "It's Dalen's call, but I'd be up for having you along for the ride."

Buffy turned to Dalen, who was doing his best to keep a straight face. She could sense his anger at being upstaged, and Buffy felt a tinge of fear that she might have taken things one step too far this time.

"Later tonight," Dalen said at last. "Perhaps you can show us around Csaplar, and we can dine together and exchange our histories and cultures with each other."

"I would be honored, my Lords," Thriss said, and Buffy could feel her joy.

"Well," Naprol said. "I'm certainly glad that is settled. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Not for the moment," Dalen said, rising from his seat. "My apprentice and I have business to attend to back at the embassy. What time would be best to meet for an evening meal, Excavator Thriss?"

"Csilla has a seventeen-hour day by Imperial standards," Thriss explained. "Perhaps at 1530 outside the embassy?"

"We will see you there. Chief Archaeologist Naprol, Excavator Thriss: It has been a pleasure meeting both of you, and I look forward to future cooperation between our two peoples."

"As do we," Naprol said, also standing up. "Travel safely, Lord Dalen and Miss Summers."

Sensing that this was a proper farewell, Buffy said, "Travel safely, Chief Archaeologist Naprol, Excavator Thriss."

"Travel safely," Dalen echoed. "Come, apprentice."

Not missing Dalen's use of Buffy's title instead of her name, she followed and suppressed the lump in her throat.

They got in the lift, and Buffy watched the green pentagon disappear as the doors closed behind them.

"You did well in there, Summers," Dalen said in a low, cool voice. "I sense you feel emboldened by the Chiss's perceptions of you. Perhaps you seek to challenge me now?"

Buffy knew that Dalen would know if she lied. "No, Master," she said, knowing that she'd likely be tortured if she didn't use his title. "You still have a lot to teach me, and I don't want to hurt you."

Dalen looked at Buffy strangely, and she realized that the concept of a Sith apprentice not wanting to challenge her Master was an extreme rarity.

"You are an ever unfolding mystery, Summers," Dalen said, and Buffy felt his anger begin to ebb away as the lift opened at ground level. "Come! We must prepare for our evening out. I imagine you want to get back to your room with its 'bubbles' that you so yearn for."

Buffy felt Dalen's amusement and she caught a small smirk on his lips.

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

"I beg your pardon?" Dalen said coolly.

"Sorry. You're a jerk, Master."

"Better, Summers," Dalen said as the two Sith laughed together in the streets of Csaplar.


	13. Faith VI - Taris

**Faith VI - Taris**

* * *

"Huh. So this is Taris," Faith said. "Why are we here again? Why would anybody want to be here?"

Looking out at the landscape from the safety of a Republic encampment by a surprisingly well-built spaceport, Faith surveyed the damage from what she'd been told was a Sith act of slaughter three hundred years ago. Taris seemed to be made up of two things: swampland and metallic ruins.

"This used to be a big city world, kinda like Coruscant," Major Cortland explained. "Darth Malak reduced it to this when he couldn't find one Jedi down on the surface. I guess he thought that it'd just be easier to kill the whole planet rather than risk one person escaping."

"Damn. The Sith don't mess around," Faith said quietly. She was unable to picture this muggy ruin of a world looking anything like the grand cityscape of the Republic's capital world. "I wonder why they didn't do the same thing to Corsica ten years ago."

"Please, Jedi girl," Vira Septus said, not quite over Faith calling her 'eyepatch girl' a few days ago. "You have gotta stop mangling Coruscant's name. As for why the Imps didn't finish off the capital when they had the chance, I couldn't tell you."

"Perhaps Coruscant figures into the Empire's future plans," Ralto reasoned. "If true, it would be most disconcerting."

"That's an understatement, Master Jedi," Cortland said. "Before we head out there, we're going to the closest med-center. They've got an inoculation against the Rakghoul plague, and even if it is out of date, I don't want to take any risks we can avoid."

"No arguments here," Faith said. "Lead the way."

Tal followed a holographic map and led them towards a series of buildings on the left side of the base.

Faith didn't need to read aurek-besh to tell that the line stretching back several meters out the door was probably full of people all looking for the same injection.

A tired-looking woman in what might have been a medic's uniform stood at the entrance and waved the four of them over. "You part of the team sent to clean up the Rakghouls?" she asked.

"We'll kill any of 'em that get in our way," Septus said, "but we're here on official Republic business."

"Those are my lines, Vira," Major Cortland said with a touch of impatience. "You should know that the business we're here for is to prevent an even worse outbreak of the Rakghoul plague that might be immune to your vaccine."

"Come on, doc!" a man near the front of the line said. He was holding a young child over his shoulder. "Are you telling me that these guys get to go first just because they're part of the army?"

"We got a couple of Jedi here, too," Vira said scornfully. "I think we take priority, seeing as we're trying to keep things from getting any worse."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the man said angrily. "I have a family here, and I already lost one of my kids to those damned things! Don't you dare expect me to take a back seat to you when your precious Republic army couldn't protect us in the first place."

"Hey!" Faith said loudly. "That's enough! We'll wait in line, okay?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Jedi girl?" Vira spat.

"We can protect ourselves," Faith said as calmly as she could, resisting the urge to smack the red-haired, one-eyed soldier. "You have your armor and your guns, and Ralto has the Force. As for me, I dare you to show me another human in this galaxy that can take the punishment I've taken and will take. We're going to the back of the line. Now, soldier."

Septus looked like she was going to blow a gasket, but Cortland put a hand on her shoulder before she could start a bigger scene. "At ease, Lieutenant. You heard the Jedi. To the back of the line we go."

"Sir," Vira protested, "you can't-"

"I can, and I just did. Now, move it."

Faith watched Vira shoot her a death glare before stalking to the back of the line, followed by Major Cortland. Behind her, Faith felt Ralto's approval, and she turned to see him smile silently before trailing after the two soldiers.

Before she could fall in behind Master Ralto, Faith felt a small tide of people approach her from the line.

"Thank you, Master Jedi," the man with the child over his shoulder said. "We've been bullied by Republic troops too often while we try to reclaim our homes. It's bad enough with those beasts out there. We don't need soldiers getting in the way as well."

The father's words were echoed by sounds of approval and even some scattered applause from the surrounding civilians. Faith looked at them all and saw some of them carrying bags stuffed to capacity on their backs, or else small carts filled with foodstuffs and a few pictures. These people literally had their entire lives on their persons.

"Hey," Faith said in a pathetic effort to shrug things off. "It wasn't anything special. You guys need the help more than we do. Common sense, y'know?"

"We do know, Master Jedi," a woman said, her arms full of a pair of overstuffed bags. "And we can't thank you enough."

Faith felt a strange heat come to her face, and she realized that she was blushing! Faith Lehane did not blush, and the thought caused her face to flush even more. "Well," she said, "get the shot and then stay safe. We'll try to make sure these things get put down and then stay down."

"What's your name, Master Jedi?" a young man asked. He couldn't have been much older than twenty, but he was standing protectively in front of an old woman and two little boys.

"I'm no Master," Faith said. "I'm just a screw-up who was in the right place at the right time. You can call me Faith. Not a Master, barely a Jedi. I'm just Faith, okay? Just… Just stay safe, okay?"

"Yes, Master Jedi! Er, that is, Faith," the young man said awkwardly. "And thank you for everything!"

Faith decided that protesting her role would be useless, and so she just nodded her head and moved to the back of the line where Master Ralto waited with Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus.

As she moved on back, Faith saw curious glances from those in line who hadn't been close enough to the confrontation. She tried to simply stride confidently, but she was still feeling awkward from the hero-worship she'd just received.

Faith knew that she was no hero, and she never would be. She'd come to terms with her not being Buffy a while back. It had stung at first, more than she'd ever admit, but it was the truth. Buffy was the hero, and Faith was just a screw-up who had good people looking out for her. Better people than she ever deserved or ever would deserve.

At the back of the line, Faith saw Master Ralto smiling with silent approval, Vira Septus scowling and trying not to look at Faith, and Major Cortland giving her a quiet nod of acceptance.

They might not be the most cohesive group of warriors ever assembled, but Faith hoped they'd manage to get things done.

* * *

"Faith, I must insist that you reconsider."

"Ralto," Faith countered, "I must insist that you stop insisting. You've been saying the same thing for hours now, and seeing as we're nowhere near an armorer, it's sounding increasingly pointless."

The Nautolan Master had been insisting since before they left the Republic base that Faith trade in her garments for more solid armor plating to protect against the Rakghouls. The cortosis woven into her clothes might absorb some of a blaster bolt, but it wouldn't stop the claws or teeth of a Rakghoul.

"I gotta say, you should've listened to him," Tal Cortland said from the driver's seat of their speeder. "Whatever you think you've seen, I can guarantee that you haven't fought anything like this before."

Faith decided that laughing out loud would only make relations tenser than they needed to be. Vira Septus had calmed down since they'd gotten their vaccinations, but Faith could still feel some residual resentment in the other woman.

"Take a right at this junction, Major," Vira said. "The scouts' reports say that the Imperial research facility is just in that ruined hulk over there."

"My stars," Ralto said with horror in his voice. "That's what's left of the _Endar Spire_! Haven't the Sith done enough to that ship already?"

"Apparently not, Master Jedi," Tal said humorlessly.

"What's so special about the… What did you call it? That's a ship?" Faith asked. All she could see was a giant hulk of scrap metal embedded in the side of a small cliff.

"The _Endar Spire_," Vira explained darkly, "was the last Republic ship to stand against the Empire before they demolished Taris. The Jedi that the Sith were looking for was on that ship before escaping to the surface. When Darth Malak found that the Jedi survived, he looked for her on the surface. I guess he got bored of the hunt and decided that it'd be simpler just to kill everything down here, including his own men."

"Damn, that's cold," Faith said. "What made this one Jedi such a big deal?"

"That one Jedi," Ralto explained, "was Bastila Shan herself. She had the rare gift of Jedi Battle Meditation. By her will alone, an allied fleet could gain insights and courage through the Force, and the enemy would become distracted and lose their confidence. It was a talent that could turn the tide of a war, and did in fact lead to Darth Malak's defeat at the Battle of the Star Forge."

"Whew. I'd read about Taris's history," Major Cortland said, "but I didn't realize it was that important a part of the Jedi Civil War."

"Well, now you do, sir," Lieutenant Septus said. "Stop the speeder. We're here."

"Yes, ma'am," Cortland said with a chuckle as he pulled over next to what looked like an open airlock.

Faith hopped out and closed her eyes, reaching out with the Force. There were other people somewhere nearby, but she couldn't tell how many there were, nor how far away.

"Major Cortland," Ralto said, "since you are the senior military officer here, I believe it would be best to accede to your command for the time being."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Master Jedi. Faith, take point. Master Ralto, watch our backs. Vira, you and I'll round out the diamond and protect the flanks. Everyone got that?"

"Right back at ya, boss man," Faith said with a disarming smirk.

"Down, Jedi girl," Vira said, but her voice held no bite. "I'm with you, sir."

"As am I, Major," Ralto said.

"All right, then," Faith said. "I'm on point, right? Follow me, lady and gents."

Faith kept her lightsaber stowed on her belt for the time being, settling for a wrist-mounted flashlight for illumination as she entered the husk of the _Endar Spire._

She quickly discovered that the flashlight was superfluous, given that the corridors were already well-lit. "This ship still running after three hundred years?" she wondered aloud.

"The Imps are probably powering it themselves," Cortland said. "And they're being careless about it. Anyone comes here and sees this, they know something's up."

"Could be a trap," Vira put in.

"Indeed," Ralto agreed. "We should be on our guard."

Faith nodded her silent agreement before turning off her flashlight and heading further into the ship.

They came to a few forks in the main corridor, but neither Faith nor Ralto could sense anyone or anything down those other paths.

They came to a bulkhead that was mostly closed, with a bit of awkwardly-placed debris keeping it from closing entirely.

"There's something past there," Ralto said.

"You sure?" Cortland asked.

"Positive," the Nautolan Master said. "Faith, help me cut a hole in the doors. This might take some time."

Faith smirked and let her brown cloak slip off her shoulders. "No need, Ralto. I got this one."

"Faith," Ralto said patiently. "That is a military-grade bulkhead. Even if it is three centuries old, you can't just-"

Faith put one hand on the inside of both doors, dug her feet in, and pushed them apart, calling on the Force to keep her stance steady while her Slayer strength handled the task at hand.

"-pull them apart," Ralto finished quietly.

"Damn, Jedi girl," Vira said. "I gotta say, I am impressed, and I don't impress easily."

"What can I say?" Faith said with a confident smirk. "I'm one of a kind."

"That you are," Cortland said appreciatively. "You able to keep on point after that?"

"No sweat," Faith said, replacing her Jedi robe over her darker, tighter garments. "This way."

The four of them made their way onto the bridge. The consoles were dark, but the wall and floor lights were still on.

"There," Ralto said. "Do you sense it, Faith?"

"Yeah, I think so. Right… Here!"

Faith knelt next to a control panel and pulled it open, revealing a chute of some sort that clearly led beneath the surface of Taris. "Can I get a hand with this, Ralto?"

Master Ralto didn't reply verbally, but closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

The consoles at the front end of the bridge detached into their component pieces and floated off to the side to reveal a step-ladder leading down an unnatural tunnel into the ground.

"Damn! How far down do you think that goes?" Faith asked.

"Sensors say about fifty meters or so," Vira said neutrally. "How do we take this, Major?"

"Not sure just yet," Cortland said. "Master Ralto, Jedi Faith, can you sense anything or anyone down there?"

"Somewhere down there, yeah," Faith said. "If you mean straight down from here, I can't… Wait a sec."

"What is it?" Tal asked.

"I can feel something, but it's strange. Not natural. But I can hear whatever it is. Sounds like a monster. Maybe more than one."

"Damn! Rakghouls," Vira spat. "Probably the next generation, too."

"Do either of you have any grenades?" Ralto asked the two soldiers.

"We have a few," Cortland said, "but that would definitely give away our position to the Imps, and maybe cause a cave-in."

"And then the surviving Rakghouls just dig their way to the surface another way," Vira concluded.

"Well, can't have that," Faith said, unhooking her lightsaber from her belt. "Ralto, you got my back, right?"

"Yes, of course, Faith. But I don't think-"

"No time to think. Monsters to slay. See y'all at the bottom."

"Faith!" all three of her comrades called as one.

She didn't hear them as she turned on both her wrist-flashlight and her lightsaber and jumped down the hole, using the Force to slow her descent so that she landed in a crouch at the bottom.

Faith was in a vast cave, and she was surrounded by pale, man-sized creatures that were vaguely ape-shaped with a sickly greenish tint.

Faith launched herself at the nearest of the Rakghouls, swinging her saber in one direction as she twisted her body in the air to avoid the claws and teeth of the unnatural beasts.

Rakghouls fell to her blue blade and didn't get up. Another wave came to meet her. Faith jumped over them and pushed out with the Force, sending them into the walls of the cave and breaking their skulls.

More came crawling along the walls towards her, and Faith sensed that she was no longer alone. Ralto stood with his back to hers, lightsaber ablaze. With a nod of understanding, Faith launched into battle with Ralto at her side.

She could sense him in the Force, and they grew stronger together, fending off the incoming waves of monstrous creatures, not letting a single claw or tooth make a scratch in their robes.

A moment later, Faith sensed Tal Cortland and Vira Septus rappel down a rope and land behind them. Tal had out his monstrous assault cannon and Vira took aim with a blaster rifle that Faith knew somehow had seen her through many battles.

Alone, any one of them was a formidable warrior. Working together, the Rakghouls didn't stand a chance.

When the last howling hiss of the monstrous Rakghouls fell silent, Faith turned off her lightsaber and took a breath.

"Faith," Ralto said sternly as he disengaged his own weapon. "That was perhaps the most foolish, reckless, insane act of stupidity I could have ever imagined you'd ever attempt."

"You're welcome," Faith said with a smirk. "We got the job done, didn't we? Don't worry so much, Ralto. I know my limits."

"No kidding?" Tal Cortland said with awe in his voice. "How close to your limit was that?"

"Just like old times back in the 'dale," Faith said confidently. "Beginner's stuff. Nothing I couldn't handle. Still, always good to have backup. Thanks, guys."

"Sure thing," Vira said softly, clearly impressed. Faith sensed that the one-eyed redhead had thought that she was all talk and no game before now. Faith was happy to prove her wrong.

"Let's go. There's people up ahead. No more Rakghouls, I don't think," Faith said. "You still want me on point?"

"Yeah," Cortland said. "Same formation. Let's move out."

Faith led the way through the cave, which was far larger than she'd thought it would be. She could sense the _Endar Spire_ above them, but the cavern system led further away from the ruined ship and towards something else entirely. Faith wasn't sure what it was, but there was something out there in the Force.

As they rounded a corner, the cave began to narrow, and Faith saw a haphazard metal wall filling in the edges of the cave. An open door with a force field inside stood between them and whatever lay beyond.

Faith saw a pair of Imperial soldiers guarding the entrance, and then she felt Ralto's hand on her shoulder.

"I'll handle this," he said confidently.

Faith trusted the Nautolan, and she let him go forward with whatever it was he had planned. Curious, Faith followed from a distance and looked on.

Ralto held his hand up in front of him as he approached the force field. "We are no threat to you," he said as he waved his hand.

"You're no threat to us," the guards repeated.

"You want to let us through, and then you'll want to take a long nap."

"We want to let you through," the guards said, and they did indeed turn off the force field and allow Ralto to pass. "We'll take a long nap."

Faith watched in amazement as the two Imperial soldiers laid down on the ground and fell asleep.

"How did… What was that?" Faith asked with awe.

"The Force," Ralto explained, "can have a strong influence on the weak-minded. We must still be on our guard, however."

"Remind me never to mess with him, sir," Vira said to Tal.

"Duly noted," Cortland said back to the Lieutenant.

The four of them moved forward into what looked like a makeshift laboratory. There were tanks that looked like stasis units, each one containing a single individual. Men in lab coats were running tests on the subjects.

"I'll handle this," Faith said, slipping off her Jedi robe. "Make yourselves sparse."

The others looked concerned, but after a nod from Ralto, the two soldiers followed him behind a small rock outcropping and hid from view.

Calling upon her memories of the Jedi Temple, Faith put herself back into 'Sith mode' and strode forward confidently, her boots making her footfalls echo in the cavern.

The scientists turned to face her, and a small group of soldiers moved forward to meet her. Their armor was slightly different from standard Imperial military garb, and Faith guessed they were an elite unit.

"Who's in charge here?" Faith demanded imperiously.

"I suppose I would be," an elderly man in a lab coat said. "Set Dorn, Imperial Reclamation Service. Forgive me, my Lord. We were not aware that a Sith Lord would be visiting for another month, at least."

"Things change," Faith said dismissively. "I want a complete update on your work here. Assume I know nothing; I don't want any details to be missed because you made an incorrect assumption. And you, soldiers! Don't you have something else to look after?"

"We had a pack of Rakghouls guarding this facility," they said. "They were supposed to repel any intruder.

"Have you ever faced a Sith Lord in combat, soldier?" Faith said menacingly.

She felt the trooper's fear, and she smiled at the feeling. "No, my Lord. It's just…"

"Just what? You thought some mindless beasts would prove a match for a Master of the Force?"

"No, no of course not, my Lord," the soldier quickly stammered. "Men, back to your posts. Now!"

"Very good," Faith said. "Now, Mr. Dorn, you were going to update me on your progress?"

"Yes, my Lord," the man said. "The test subjects so far are holding in stasis quite well. We believe that we can suppress the Rakghoul virus from manifesting itself fully for up to three days, but we're working on extending that timeframe."

"For what purpose?" Faith asked darkly. "Remember, assume I know nothing."

"Y-yes! Sorry, my Lord! The plan was to infect individuals with a newly-updated strain of the virus, then release them into the general population without any memory of the infection."

"And then they would act as time-bombs," Faith realized, "mutating and infecting others without even knowing that they're carrying the virus."

"Precisely, my Lord!" Set Dorn said proudly.

"I assume you have a vaccine ready in the unfortunate event that Imperial lives are affected by your project?"

"W-well, yes, my Lord. In a sense."

"What sense would that be, Mr. Dorn?" Faith snarled.

"W-well, the vaccine is still in the experimental stages. And, well, quite frankly it isn't a very high priority. The Rakghoul project itself is secondary to our main purpose here."

"I was sent by the Dark Council to obtain an update on the situation," Faith said. "They gave me no details, as is their right. Tell me, what is your number one priority?"

"Over there, can you see it?" Set Dorn said, gesturing to the far end of the cave.

Faith looked over to the wall and saw that it wasn't entirely a rocky cavern wall, but one end of an excavated ruin. A pair of stone doors remained sealed, and there was a vaguely cross-shaped emblem on either of them that Faith couldn't see in detail from a distance.

"Tell me all you've learned so far about it," Faith said to Dorn, but she kept her eyes on the ruin. These people were tiny gnats in the Force. Tal and Vira were a bit brighter, and Ralto was a nice lantern in the dark. The ruin was like a simmering volcano waiting to burst. It was bright in the Force, but with an undercurrent of cold that felt disturbingly like Anev Xydes had.

"Well, my Lord," Dorn began, "the stone is not native to Taris, we're certain of that. Residual minerals we scraped off the stone's surface put the age of the ruin at over twenty-five thousand years old!"

"Older than the Republic," Faith said under her breath. "Older than the Jedi and the Sith." Faith didn't know how things worked in this universe, but back home, anything this old was generally powerful and typically evil.

"Aside from that, we haven't been able to make a dent in it. We've tried many things, but to no avail. Our tools don't even leave any residue on the stone," Dorn was saying.

"I see," Faith said. The ruin was now a greater concern, and the Imperials were just in the way. Part of her hated what she was about to do, but a little voice told her that it had to be done.

Another, louder voice told her to look at the people in the tanks, victims of the Empire's sadistic experiments, and her dirty task became that much easier.

"Thanks for all your help."

Faith's lightsaber came out and Set Dorn was cut in half before he had time to notice he was in any danger. Before the head scientist's body had hit the ground, Faith threw her lightsaber and guided it with the Force in an arc that cut down all of the remaining scientists.

The soldiers that Faith had sent away came running back, but Vira and Tal had their weapons ready and promptly gunned down the Imperials before they could get too many shots off. A few blaster bolts made their way towards Faith, but she deflected them with her lightsaber back towards their owners with ease.

"Faith!" Ralto said harshly. "Was that necessary? We could have taken them captive! You didn't need to kill them!"

"They would've been in the way," Faith said coldly, wanting desperately to believe her own words. "And we have bigger fish to fry."

"What does cooking have to do with anything?" Vira asked hotly.

"We have bigger problems," Faith clarified, and she meant it. "Over there, can't you feel it? Come on, follow me!"

"Faith! Wait up!" Ralto said to no avail. Sighing to himself, he set off after Faith.

Cortland and Septus were already behind her, and Faith brought them to the giant stone doors of the ruin.

Up close, the cross-like symbol was actually a segmented diamond formed around an ovoid shape in the center.

"What is it?" Major Cortland asked.

"It's the real reason the Imps were here," Faith answered. "They couldn't open it, but we will."

"Don't overestimate yourself," Ralto warned.

"I'm not," Faith shot back. "It just has to be done. I can feel it."

"You have been acting increasingly reckless since we landed on Taris," Ralto chided her. Back at the clinic was one thing, but jumping down alone into a horde of Rakghouls, impersonating a Sith Lord again, and then killing an entire base of people… I wonder, Jedi Lehane, if you-"

Ralto didn't finish his sentence as the doors to the ruin moved open just a bit.

The group of Jedi and soldiers regarded the ancient ruin with puzzlement and awe.

"It's a start," Faith said. "Settle in for the long haul, kiddies. This thing is going to open for us soon, I know it."

"And what do you think is inside?" Cortland asked carefully.

"Dunno," Faith said honestly. "But we're about to find out."


	14. Buffy VII - There is Only Passion

**Buffy VII - There Is Only Passion**

* * *

Lord Shar Dalen of the Sith Empire did not consider himself to be an overly complicated man. He studied the ways of the Force, sought the extermination of the Jedi, and took practical ideas into consideration regardless of their source. He had little patience for fools, but was intrigued by new ideas that showed promise in real-life scenarios. He considered himself both harsh and fair, and he hoped he did not come across as humorless.

Most of all, Shar Dalen liked to think of himself as a level-headed man who could analyze a situation quickly and grasp how best to handle it and seize the advantage.

Why, then, did his apprentice have to test his well-constructed, well-maintained persona of patience and practicality with her nonsensical ways?

"Summers, it is 1500 hours, and you have been 'preparing' for this dinner since 1345," he called from the hall outside her door in the Imperial embassy. "What could possibly be so vital that you must spend so much time in the refresher?"

"Keep your shirt on, Dalen," she called back. "These things take time."

Why his apprentice thought he might remove his shirt, Dalen had no idea, and he was too upset to indulge his curiosity at the moment. "This is a simple evening with a native Force-user, Summers. You are acting as though this is a diplomatic summit to secure a vital alliance. Even if it was, would you really need to take so long in there?"

"You don't have much experience with women, do you Dalen?"

"W-what?!" Even for Buffy Summers, that remark was so brazen and impudent that he could not let it stand. "How dare you imply that I am… Just what are you implying, Summers?" he shouted.

"I guarantee you, Dalen: No matter what planet she comes from, a woman is going to obsess about her appearance. Especially if she wants to impress someone who could be important to her," Summers explained with an infuriating patience that reminded Dalen of his own Overseer from when he was an acolyte on Korriban.

"And what makes you think Excavator Mitth'ris'sintar is going to be so important?" Dalen asked, now genuinely curious as to his apprentice's opinion. She might be a stubborn and often flighty girl, but underneath that youthful exterior she possessed a sharp mind and a passionate heart to rival any Sith that Dalen had ever met.

"How many Chiss do you know of who can use the Force?" Summers asked.

Dalen sighed, but he decided it would be easier to indulge her curiosity to see where she was going. "When the Empire first approached the Chiss Ascendency, they sensed only a few individuals with the potential to use the Force to any real degree, and only three of them decided to undergo training with the Sith. While conscription of Force-sensitive individuals is mandatory in the Empire, a legitimate alliance with the Ascendency was too valuable to attempt to force our ways on them with so little to gain in the way of new Sith Lords."

"Exactly," Summers said, as if she'd made a perfectly clear point.

Whatever that point was, Dalen was not seeing it. "I don't know what you're scheming, Summers, but I don't appreciate being kept in the dark. And now it is 1510. Are you ever going to come out…"

The door to Summers's room opened.

"…of there?" Dalen tried to maintain his straight face, but it was very difficult in given what was straight in front of him.

Summers was wearing a shimmering dark blue dress with silver embroidery that left her shoulders and arms bare. A slit ran up her left leg to reveal an almost scandalous amount of skin, and she wore a pair of shoes with heels that were so slender and tall that he didn't see how she could walk around in them without tripping.

Her hair was done up in elaborate curls that cascaded down her face, and her cheeks were accented with soft red hues. Her lashes were darkened and extended, and her eyelids were painted with a sparkly dark material of some sort that gave her green eyes a glimmer as if they were on fire and giving off both steam and smoke all at once. Finally, her lips were painted a deep crimson, making them seem inviting in a way that Dalen had never noticed before.

"What's the matter, Master?" Summers asked in a voice so soft and innocent that it could not possibly be genuine. "Did I do something wrong?"

And now his apprentice was wearing a pout on her painted lips that she must have known would bring his breath up short. Curse him for a fool, but Summers was right. For all his experience as a scholar and a warrior, and for the minor games he had played with the prettier acolytes during his time on Korriban, Shar Dalen was certain that he truly did not know much about the ways of women.

"No, you did nothing wrong, Summers," he managed to say. "You look…" What to say now?

"Presentable."

Summers frowned, and despite being her Master, marking him as her superior in all ways, Dalen felt utterly helpless against those smoky green eyes that stared at him, drawing him in.

And then the strangest thing happened. Summers smiled. Her red lips parted to reveal a shining white smile, and Dalen knew he was staring at a predator who was about to go for the kill.

"Thank you, Lord Dalen," she said huskily. "You look quite dashing yourself."

Damn those eyelashes of hers! Why must they keep batting themselves and drawing his attention back to her glimmering green eyes?

"Shall we go to meet our host now, Master?" Summers cooed, extending her arm to him.

Dalen snapped himself out of his daze long enough to reorient himself and focus. "Yes, Summers, I think we shall," he said as he took her arm in his. He could be a gentleman tonight. That was in keeping with his mental image of himself. Shar Dalen was a proper man with a healthy respect for the social graces.

Wasn't he?

* * *

Buffy stood under a black awning outside the Imperial embassy, celebrating mentally at the clear reaction she'd gotten out of Dalen. He was a handsome man, and he was certainly a gentleman, but he did have an almost Giles-like air to him sometimes that made Buffy think that he would be more at home in a library than on a battlefield.

Regardless of the matter, Buffy could feel Dalen's lust rising, and she stretched her arms above her head to further fuel his passions.

When she felt a rise in Dalen's emotional heat, Buffy smirked. She'd been the lackey long enough, and it felt really good to be in control of the situation, even if it was temporary. If she was honest with herself, Buffy was surprised at how much of a reaction she'd gotten out of her 'Master.' She'd been under the impression that he was more experienced with women than his current reaction implied.

Whatever the case was, Buffy would have to tread carefully. If he did something in the heat of the moment that made him look bad, Buffy had no doubt that Dalen would cast the blame at her. She'd yet to see Dalen in a fury, but if the passion she felt roiling inside of him were to be turned towards violence, she had no doubt that the lust she was fueling would only make his wrath stronger.

Such was the way of the Dark Side of the Force.

Dalen himself was wearing a formal black tunic and pants with a black-and-red cape flowing down his back. There was a hood that he could bring up over his head, but right now, Dalen looked every bit the Sith Lord. He even had his lightsaber hooked on his belt. Buffy wondered if he meant it as a sign of his station or if he was trying to broadcast a different sort of message.

Buffy had her blade hidden in her dark blue handbag along with some niceties that she hadn't enjoyed since first arriving on the Denovan battlefield. So much had happened since then. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

A flicker in the Force alerted Buffy to a tall, proud figure striding down the street to meet them, and Buffy felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of Thriss.

The Chiss excavator hadn't done anything terribly special with her hair, save that her ponytail was now smoother and sleeker, and her bangs had been fully brushed away from her face. Light red makeup on her cheeks and ruby-red lipstick highlighted her glowing red eyes. She wore an off-the-shoulder red dress that covered her body down to her feet, but left her navy blue arms bare.

Buffy's eyes wandered over the woman and was surprised at just how well-muscled she was. Part of that was what she could see with the naked eye, but more could be sensed in the Force. Here was a woman who yearned for action, who was ready for it, but who felt repressed and subdued in a culture that didn't know what to do with her talents.

Buffy had been determined beforehand to bring Thriss over to the Sith, but now that determination had increased a hundredfold.

Thriss seemed to glide along the sidewalk, and Buffy idly wondered what sort of shoes she was wearing.

"My Lord Summers, my Lord Dalen," she greeted them. "You both look quite handsome for aliens."

Buffy felt Dalen recoil at being called an 'alien,' which she knew his culture had taught was a derogatory word meant for those beneath him. Here on Csilla, however, Buffy knew that they were the aliens, not Thriss.

Buffy merely smiled at the compliment. "You look quite handsome as well, Thriss," Buffy said, not wanting to use a different compliment, unsure of the societal rules.

A moment later, she smacked herself internally. "Is it all right if I call you by your name without your title? I don't want to be rude or anything."

Thriss merely chuckled. "It's quite all right. I'd rather be seen for who I am rather than what I do. Most Chiss find my way of thinking to be strange. May I show you the city, and we can discuss this further?"

"Yes," Dalen said, finally regaining his sense of speech. "That would be wonderful, Thriss."

The lovely Chiss woman arched an eyebrow at Dalen and turned her gaze to Buffy.

Buffy wondered what Thriss was waiting for, but a feeling of anger in Dalen told her that Thriss was looking to Buffy as the socially superior of the two of them.

This could only end in tears.

"Yeah, Csilla is nothing like anything I've seen before. It's gorgeous," Buffy said honestly. "Please, lead the way."

"As you wish, Lord Summers," Thriss said throatily, and Buffy was caught off guard by the feelings of lust that she sensed in the Chiss.

While she was certainly surprised, Buffy was not about to complain.

Thriss led Buffy and Dalen through the streets of Csaplar for about thirty minutes, showing off the highlights of the government district, where the embassy was located, before moving on to the commercial sector of the city, giving tidbits of cultural history where applicable. Dalen politely inquired about certain aspects of Chiss history, while Buffy commented more on the aesthetics of the city and compared them to Earth cities.

After another ten minutes or so of browsing, the three of them sat down to eat at a restaurant called 'The Rising Star,' which appealed to the group for two reasons. Thriss recommended the place highly, and there was a sign in a script of Aurebesh that Buffy hadn't seen before, but which Dalen assured her read 'Imperial Credits Accepted Here.'

They sat outside in the night of Csaplar. They could see the stars through a giant hole in the 'roof' of the underground city, with the warmth kept in by a force field. With the lights of the night sky reflecting against the ice surrounding the city and reflecting off the blue-black metal that made up the buildings, Buffy was awestruck by Csilla's beauty.

"Your home is so beautiful," Buffy said earnestly. "The most ice I've seen before now was in a rink back in LA."

"A 'rink?' What is that?" Thriss asked.

Buffy found it hard to meet the Chiss woman's gaze. Those glowing red eyes were so different from a human's, and Buffy was afraid that she would be like a deer in the headlights if she looked for too long.

"Well, back on Earth, we sometimes had indoor arenas that were kept cold so that the ice would stay frozen, and it would be set up in, I guess you might call it a small arena or a stage? People would skate on the ice. Some people would do it just for fun, and others did it while playing sports. I liked figure skating, which is kind of like dancing in a way."

"What is this word, 'skate?'" Thriss asked. She was leaning forward, clearly attentive.

Buffy felt a bit awkward at the attention, and a quick look at Dalen made her even more self-aware, since she could feel his attention on her as well.

"An ice skate is what we call a blade put on the bottom of a special kind of boot, and you balance on the blades and glide across the ice on them. It's really easy to fall over if you don't know what you're doing."

"Why would you put blades on the bottom of boots?" Thriss asked. "What practical purpose does it serve aside from entertainment?"

Buffy was torn out of her memories of home and thrust back onto Csilla, where nothing was without purpose. "Well, back before we had motorized vehicles," Buffy said, choosing her words carefully, "people in icy places who needed to move cargo from place to place would put skates on the bottom of sleds. They'd then train a team of dogs to pull the sled across the ice, with a person standing in the back guiding the dogs. I don't know for sure, but I think the foot skates came later on after being inspired by the sleds."

"I see. I assume a dog is a sort of animal?" Thriss inquired.

"Yeah. A lot of people keep them as pets."

"Quite interesting," Thriss said. She looked ready to ask more questions just as a waiter arrived to take their orders. Buffy was relying on Thriss to tell them what was good, since she doubted Dalen knew any better than she did what Chiss cuisine was like.

At Thriss's recommendation, both Buffy and Dalen ordered a roasted springhawk. Thriss ordered a fillet of an animal whose name Buffy couldn't pronounce. Thriss told them that it was a warm-blooded predator native to Csilla.

The waiter left, and Buffy felt Thriss's attention shift fully back to her.

"While it is a pleasure to share Chiss culture with aliens," Thriss said, and Buffy detected the hint of a smirk on her lips that coincided with a spike in Dalen's anger, "I would be very grateful to learn more about the Sith. I have a gift that the Chiss don't recognize or understand. This is what you are. Tell me how I can focus this power!"

Buffy tried to keep calm in the face of Thriss's passion, and thankfully she had a reply ready. "You're already on the path to becoming a Sith, Thriss," Buffy said honestly. "From what I'm gathering, the Chiss are all about helping the group and propping up the Chiss as a whole, right?"

"Yes, that is the Chiss way," Thriss said carefully, but Buffy sensed her own feelings were not quite in line with the 'Chiss way.'

"The Sith are all about the individual," Buffy explained as she felt Dalen's quiet anger begin to boil. "We embrace passion of all kinds and we use that to focus and channel the Force. Perhaps you can tell Thriss about the Sith Code, Dalen?"

Buffy caught Dalen's gaze, and she knew that he had wanted to be addressed as 'Lord Dalen,' and she could feel his resentment that his pupil was taking the lead. Buffy hoped that giving him the teacher's lectern, so to speak, would mollify him somewhat.

"Well, Thriss," he began, "the first tenet of the Sith is that peace is a lie. There is only passion. What do you think of that?"

Thriss's lips parted to reveal a white grin, and Buffy felt an ache in her loins as she mentally traced a finger across the Chiss's beautiful smile. "Any peace is temporary at best. Science teaches that the strong survive at the expense of the weak. That is a basic fact that any Chiss will accept as truth. Conflict drives us forward."

"Precisely," Dalen said with satisfaction, and Buffy caught his gaze. In that moment, Buffy understood that Dalen now fully agreed with her that Thriss was definitely Sith material. "For a Sith, it is more than that. Any notion of peace or tranquility is something that is not to be tolerated. It holds us back as individuals. Since passion drives conflict, we recognize that passion is the key to not only survival, but to greatness."

"Passion is the first step," Buffy said, taking over for Dalen. She sensed his anger, but as Thriss's lovely face turned to look at her again, she didn't care. "As we let passion drive us, we become stronger. 'Through passion, I gain strength' is the next part of the Sith Code. It's an acceptance and understanding that our emotions, especially in extremes, are what make us strong. Do you understand, Thriss?" Buffy asked, making an effort to sound husky and sexy.

"Yes, Lord Summers," Thriss said breathlessly. "I think I do."

"Good," Dalen said, taking control of the conversation again. "While our passions make us strong, that strength takes us to new heights, and at those heights, we become powerful. 'Through strength, I gain power,' Thriss."

"So I see," the Chiss said, but her eyes were focused on Buffy's own predatory grin.

"When we have our power, and when we make the best use of it," Buffy said as she batted her lashes, "we unlock the keys to success, and we emerge victorious. 'Through power, I gain victory.'"

"What next?" Thriss asked eagerly, her passion growing and feeding on Buffy's and Dalen's without even realizing it.

Buffy was fully aware of what she was doing, and she was keen to keep Thriss attentive on her for as long as it took. "When we take the next step forward with victory, we sever the bonds that held us back, leaving them behind completely. 'Through victory, my chains are broken.' To sum it up nicely, 'The Force shall set me free.' Isn't that right, Dalen?" she said with a cocky nod of her head, tossing her 'Master' a bone.

"Indeed," he said coolly, but Buffy could feel his own passions roiling under the surface. Anger, frustration, and lust were all simmering just beneath that calm exterior, and it was so sexy.

The tension was broken as the waiter arrived with their food. The trio ate in silence, and Buffy could tell that she wasn't alone in letting her passions come to a boil inside her. It felt so good to focus inward like this, to create such power inside of her that was just waiting to be set free.

She could feel the elevated heartbeats of her two companions, and Buffy could sense that they were calling upon the Force, however unwillingly, to add extra flavor and sensation to every bite of their meal. The table was a font of power just waiting to erupt.

By the time Thriss bade them good night, Buffy was so eagerly anticipating seeing her again at the dig site that she barely noticed Dalen's simmering anger right beside her.

When they got to the embassy, Dalen stormed inside ahead of his apprentice, and Buffy looked up at the stars, her chest heaving, and she knew she might not fall asleep tonight without help. Was there someplace she could go to let off steam? It wasn't like she was going to see if Csaplar had any hotels that paid by the hour. She wanted to check, but she didn't think that any Chiss could compare to Thriss right now.

Heading inside, Buffy decided to check with the clerk at the front if there were any athletic arenas open at this time of night. "You wanna do me a favor?" she asked the blonde human man at the front desk.

He looked up at Buffy, his brown gaze blank. "I want to do you a favor," he said.

On another day, Buffy might have been taken aback by the power she could feel wrapping around this weak-minded lackey, but tonight, she knew what she needed. "You're going to follow me and do exactly as I say."

"I'm going to follow you and do exactly as you say," he repeated, following after Buffy.

"Good boy," she cooed. "You want to make your Sith Masters happy any way you can."

"I want to make my Sith Masters happy any way I can."

Buffy couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed the man and tossed him into her room, where he landed on the bed in a heap. Buffy slammed the door and left the day behind her.

* * *

Buffy called upon last night's passion-filled dinner to warm herself in the cold of Csilla's surface. She wore a mask over her face to protect her from the elements, and her hide and fur garments were proving to be a wise investment.

The ruin was easy to spot. The brownish stone jutted out and formed a blister of sorts on the otherwise white surface of the world.

"We don't know how long it has been here like this," Chief Archaeologist Naprol said from the front passenger seat of the speeder, his words going into a communicator in his suit and then into Buffy and Dalen's earpieces, "but snow will not adhere to it for whatever reason. It is difficult to get a firm reading on the mineral components of the stone, and we only have Excavator Thriss's experience as a vague clue to its origins."

"Take us to it, please," Dalen said calmly, but Buffy could sense his passions from last night had not been sated, not channeled into any appropriate outlet, and Buffy fed off his repressed power to fuel her own passions. She knew they would be key to getting inside the ruin.

Naprol directed the driver to take them to the doors of the ruin. The trip took another ten minutes, and Buffy stepped out of the open-air speeder and walked towards the ruin. Why the speeder didn't have a canopy or some other sort of cover was a mystery to her. Maybe the Chiss just liked the cold?

There was a lone figure standing at the slightly open left door, and Buffy knew without seeing her face that it was Thriss. She could feel the other woman's anticipation in the Force.

"Excavator Thriss," Naprol said, "have you made any further progress?"

"Not yet, Chief Archaeologist," she said loudly over the wind. "But I am close! I can feel it."

Buffy felt Naprol's doubt, and she knew that Thriss had felt it too since the pretty young Chiss had just gotten angrier.

An idea struck Buffy. "Thriss, Dalen, come here. Now!"

"Yes, Lord Summers!" Thriss said, obviously eager to rejoin Buffy's side.

"What is your plan, apprentice?" Dalen said carefully.

Buffy met the two others right at the entrance to the ruin. Buffy reached out and touched the doors with her gloved fingers, and she felt the power in the stone.

"I can feel your lust. Both of you," Buffy told them. "You both want me so bad that it hurts. Tell me what you'd do to have me," she ordered them.

"Stop your games, apprentice," Dalen said, trying to command her.

"Whatever you want," Thriss said eagerly, wrapping her arms around Buffy's shoulders. "I'll do whatever you want, Lord Summers."

Buffy projected the Force equivalent of a smirk at Dalen. "She wants me pretty bad, it seems. I could feel you wanting me last night. I can feel it still. You ache for me, Dalen. Don't bother denying it. Embrace it."

Dalen strode forward and grabbed Buffy's head with both hands. "You are impossible, Summers," he growled, but Buffy knew she'd brought his passion and his power to the surface.

"Make your passion give you strength," Buffy said, gyrating her body against the two others. "Make that strength give you power."

The three of them were undulating together as one now.

"Make that power give you victory!" Buffy cried. "Let that victory break. Our. Chains!"

Seizing upon both of the two others through the Force, Buffy drew out their combined passion and let out a horrible scream that echoed across the wintry surface of Csilla with monstrous power and fury.

The power of the Dark Side was not ignored, and the doors to the ruin opened obediently at the display of raw power.

Buffy could feel the eyes of the rest of the Chiss archaeological team on the three of them, and she could feel their awe and their fear. It fed her own passions, and it made her powerful.

"Let's go inside," Buffy said, feeling more confident than she could remember. This was the power of the Dark Side. This was what it was to be Sith! "This ruin is for us. Let's get in while we still can."

"Yes, Lord Summers," Thriss said breathlessly, following her into the darkness.

"You," Dalen said through harsh breaths, following after them, "you are something entirely unexpected, Buffy."

The Slayer-turned-Sith froze in her tracks. Never, not once, had Dalen ever called her by her first name.

It would have to wait. The interior of the ruin called to her. "Later, Dalen. We're being called, can't you feel it?"

"Yes," both Dalen and Thriss answered as one.

The inside was dark at first, but at a certain invisible threshold, purple flames ignited in torches along the walls. A smaller, normal-sized stone door was in front of them.

Buffy merely waved her hand and slid the door open with a thought.

Striding inside, Dalen and Thriss right behind her, Buffy entered the heart of the ruin.

Purple and orange crystals held an unnatural light inside of them. A strange machine hovered in the center of the room. It had a spherical body and many arms and legs with a variety of apparatuses on the ends. It looked to be a droid of some kind.

The droid spoke in a language that Buffy didn't recognize.

"Did either of you understand that?" Buffy asked.

"I did not," Dalen said.

"Neither did I," Thriss put in.

The droid spoke again, this time in a very different language. It was more guttural and less smooth than it had been the first time.

"I still don't understand it," Thriss said.

Buffy nodded, sensing Dalen's consensus in the Force.

The droid spoke again and again, in so many languages that Buffy knew she had no hope of understanding. And then…

"Who enters the domain of the Builders?" the mechanical voice said.

"Minnisiat," Thriss said. "A local trade language."

Dalen spoke to the droid. "We who command the Force enter this place."

"You are not of the Builders," the droid said. "You have their power, but you are not of their number."

"Who are the Builders?" Thriss asked.

"The Builders are the rulers of the cosmos," the droid said. "The Infinite Empire of the Builders is eternal and indisputable."

"Evidently," Dalen said dryly. "What is this place?"

"You have proven your worth, stranger," the droid said. "You will serve the Builders and use the knowledge of this place to find and activate the Purge Engine."

It was only a machine, but Buffy could have sworn something reached inside her and filled her insides with ice water. "Purge Engine?" Buffy repeated, seeing the capital letters in her mind's eye. "What's that?"

"You will serve the Builders," the droid repeated. "You will use the knowledge of this place to find and activate the Purge Engine."

The droid's arms shifted to reveal a cavity in its body. A sphere floated out of it and began to spin in midair.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Thriss said nervously.

"It's okay," Buffy said. "I don't think this is gonna hurt."

The spinning sphere disappeared in a flash of light, and in its place was a bright map of the galaxy. A shining purple light in the corner of the map pulsed with power, and lines began to creep away from it towards other stars in the galaxy.

Buffy walked around the room, which was full of the light of stars. Dalen and Thriss joined her.

"This is Csilla," Thriss said, pointing to the pulsing purple light. "What are all these other stars?" she asked. "What do they matter?"

"Look here," Dalen said, gesturing to the endpoints of all the lines. "None of these systems mean anything. But," he said, pointing to an unmarked star, "they all seem approximately equidistant from right here."

As he said it, the star lit up with an orange light, and Buffy knew that Dalen had the right idea.

"This is great and all," Buffy said, "but are we sure that we want to find this 'Purge Engine?' We don't even know who or what these 'Builders' are."

"We'll find out," Dalen said, pulling a miniature computer out of his jacket. After a brief whirring from the droid, the lights from the map formed a funnel that fed into Dalen's computer, which began to glow with a strange white light.

"Remarkable. The technology that created this… I can't even conceive of it," Dalen said. "Unfortunately for all of us, we will have to inform Darth Arctis of this development."

"Who is Darth Arctis?" Thriss asked.

"One of twelve Dark Councilors that oversee the Empire's day to day affairs," Dalen said. "They are the practical rulers of the Sith unless the Emperor himself overrules them, but that is rare."

"You'll be coming with us, won't you, Thriss?" Buffy asked.

"I would like nothing better," Thriss answered. "What will happen to my career as an excavator?" she asked. "I'm good at it, but I want this more."

"Your past is a chain, Thriss," Dalen explained. "Make victory yours, and your chains will be broken."

"Come on," Buffy said. "I think we're done here." She was certainly eager to be out of this ruin.

"Very well," Thriss said. "You can ride in my vehicle back to Csaplar. We don't need to wait for the others in the team, do we?"

"They can comb over that ruin all they want," Buffy said. "Let them dig 'til their heart's content if they want."

"We have what we came for," Dalen said.

"And we also have you," Buffy said proudly.

"Thank you, Lord Summers," Thriss said. "I'm glad you found me."

"So am I," Buffy said. Despite the heavy clothing they wore, Buffy could see in her mind's eye a slender blue body with glowing red eyes, and she saw that lovely woman look back at her and see her for what she truly was underneath.

And this, Buffy realized with satisfaction, was only the beginning.


	15. Faith VII - There is Peace

**Faith VII - There Is Peace**

* * *

"Faith, please take a rest."

"No time, Ralto," Faith replied through her teeth, resuming her push against the immense stone door. Something had opened it just enough for her to get a hold on it, and she wasn't going to back down now.

"Look, Jedi girl, we get it," Vira said. "You're strong and you've got the Force. You don't have to prove anything to us."

"We need to report this place to the Republic," Cortland said calmly. "My comm's not getting a signal down here. We could ride up the cable with our harnesses if we have to, but I'd like to know how the Imps were coming and going if they had Rakghouls guarding the entrance we came through."

"You think they had their own entrance, Major?" Vira asked. "Why'd they just let Faith walk up to 'em, then?"

"Arrogance and fear," Ralto said sagely. "Sith are mercurial creatures on the best of days. Many would seek to challenge themselves, especially if they felt as if there would be no challenge at the end of such a gauntlet as those Rakghouls proved to be. Faith was… in character."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Faith said harshly.

She was starting to breathe a bit heavily after working at the door for over half an hour, and she didn't like the hushed words and careful glances the others were shooting behind her back. Faith could sense their feelings even if she couldn't hear them exactly.

"Well, Faith," Cortland said fairly, "you do dress the part and look good doing so."

"I know I look good," Faith said, not amused. "Just get to the point, Tal."

"What I'm getting at, Faith, is that you looked the part, you spoke the part minus the accent, and then…"

"And then you acted the part," Vira said flatly. "Only you weren't killing the Imps on a whim, but because they were in the way. They're the enemy, and you did what you had to do, Faith. I don't think your old Master agrees with me."

"No, I can't say that I do," Ralto said. "Those soldiers and scientists didn't have to die, Faith."

"Did you hear what they did to those people back in the tanks?" Faith shot back, not raising her voice. "They don't deserve to die either, but I'm thinking it'd be a mercy to let 'em die without killing their friends and family."

"Faith," Ralto said softly, "surely you don't mean that."

"There is no death, Ralto," Faith said without emotion. "It's best this way. Better to die who you are than to become a monster." Memories of Xander and Willow telling her about their friend, Jesse, came to mind, followed by thoughts of her first Watcher, Diana Dormer. At least Kakistos had killed her instead of turning her.

"You don't mean to fully embrace the Jedi Code, surely," Ralto chided her. "It may be expected of you, but I know you better than that, Faith."

"You think you know me?" Faith asked angrily, turning on her old Master as her heart began to race. "None of you knows me! You think that just because you find a girl with some power that you can turn her into Miss Proper Jedi of the Year or something? You think you can just erase my past that you know nothing about? You. Don't. Know. Me," she snarled.

"Faith," Ralto said kindly.

Not in the mood for any more Jedi lectures, Faith stormed off back towards the lab section of the Imperial base. She wanted to get away from both Ralto and from the mysterious ruin. It was giving off some negative vibes that Faith knew she'd have to face eventually. She wasn't ready to do so just yet.

Meandering over to the tanks full of infected Tarisians, Faith looked over the control mechanism and wondered if there was a way to kill the people inside without waking them up from whatever sleep they were in. It shouldn't hurt them if she just killed the switch, right? If only she could find that switch in the first place.

Faith heard a set of footfalls approaching that she'd learned to distinguish since leaving Coruscant. "What do you want, Lieutenant?" she asked tiredly.

"`Lieutenant,' is it?" Vira asked with no bite. "You never struck me as the formal type, Jedi girl."

"Yeah, well maybe I'm not in the mood for informal right now, okay?" Faith said defensively.

Vira sighed. "Look, I just haven't ever seen a Jedi look so… I don't know how to put it, but you're not like any Jedi I've ever met."

Faith laughed humorlessly, not looking at the Lieutenant. "Yeah, I'll bet. Nobody's ever seen such a screw-up like me before. The Jedi are all harmonious and perfect and shit, and here I am just fumbling along and making a scene."

Now Faith did turn to look at the one-eyed lieutenant. "I don't think they make Jedi out of murderers, do they?"

Vira sighed, clearly frustrated. "These guys were the enemy, Faith. You didn't 'murder' them. You made a tactical decision to remove any obstacles to completing our mission. It was the right call."

Faith shook her head. "No, you don't get it. There's no way you could. I already told you: You don't know me. You don't know what I've done."

"Maybe," Vira conceded. "Just don't stand in that pool of self-pity for too long, okay? You're not the only one who's ever been there. It's not a pretty place."

Faith arched a curious brow and crossed her arms under her breasts. She wanted to look in command, but she also wanted to listen.

"I'm from Balmorra," the Lieutenant explained. "We have all the best droid and weapon factories, and before the Great War, we were proudly independent despite supporting the Republic on the whole."

"Sounds like you guys had a bull's-eye painted on you," Faith remarked.

"A what?"

"Y'know… A target."

"Ah, right. Yeah, the Empire wanted Balmorra pretty badly," Vira said darkly. "The Republic tried to help us, but the Empire was winning, and it wasn't pretty. These people will execute innocent families just to make a point, Jedi girl. Don't ever doubt that they're the bad guys, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Faith said. "That doesn't make me a good guy."

"Well, you're not alone there. Growing up on Balmorra during the war wasn't pretty. The Empire controlled everything, but there was a resistance. I wanted to join up as soon as I could. I wanted my home to be for me, not for some invading scum who just wanted to fuel their war machine."

"That bad, huh?" Faith said.

"Yeah. That bad. They rounded up everyone in my hometown when they thought that there were resistance fighters hiding out there. They decided that since a fighter could be anyone, they'd take twenty random people and execute them right then and there."

Faith's eyes widened at the cold brutality of the Empire, and she sensed a sharp pain from Vira.

"It was a small little village, so the odds were stacked against me. I lost my mom, my oldest brother, and a friend that day. Pala, my friend, was only nine years old, dammit! And they killed her without even blinking. It's just what they do. I was only ten, myself, at the time."

"Why're you telling me this?" Faith asked.

Vira laughed without humor. "Force, I don't even know. I started off trying to make a point, but maybe this has all been on my mind for too long. Anyway, my dad brought me into the Resistance. Said that I was old enough to help clean stuff and carry food and medicine around. Stuff a kid could do, y'know? When I turned thirteen, I started practicing with a blaster rifle, and I started using it when I was fifteen. Killed a lot of Imps with that gun. For all I knew, they had families just like I did. Didn't really matter, though. They were the enemy, and they had to die.

"One day, when I was nineteen, we infiltrated the Imperial base in Sobrik disguised as civilian workers. We were hoping to scare the bastards off Balmorra by bombing the homes of high-ranking officers. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and they'd done worse to us."

Faith knew that this story wasn't going to end well, but she didn't interrupt. She let her stance relax a little to seem less challenging.

"So, we get the bomb set up all right," Vira said. "I'm set to stay behind and make sure it goes off without a hitch, and then play the loyal Imperial lapdog and run screaming to the nearest Imp guard I can find. Risky, but it was a good way to get them focused on the bombing and not on the fleeing fighters.

"I stay just out of the way of the blast, and it goes off just like we planned, save for one thing. Just as I'm about to go fetch a guard before slipping away myself, I hear this wailing coming from inside the house. There was a little kid inside, couldn't've been more than a baby by the screaming."

"Damn!" Faith said quietly. "I'm not one to hand out pity, but that kid got the shaft."

"I don't know what 'getting the shaft' is, but it sounds about right," Vira said. "When I heard that baby crying, all I could think about was how I had almost killed a little kid. A crying baby didn't seem like an Imperial bastard to me. I just heard a kid screaming for help, and I did the dumbest thing I could've done and went in there to try and rescue him.

"I was nineteen, and I'd never been in a burning building before. I didn't know anything about fire. But I found the kid on the ground floor. I wrapped a hand cloth from my pocket around his face to protect him from the smoke, and we got out of there just as the Imps were showing up."

"Bet they thought you were the hero of the day," Faith said with a small smile.

Vira snorted. "Hardly. I handed the kid off to the nearest person who wasn't wearing a hard suit of armor – I think he might've been an officer – only to be smacked across the face and kicked back towards the burning house by some of those troopers I passed up because I didn't want the kid to slip out of an awkward set of armor.

"There must've been a gas line or something in the house that wasn't touched until right then and there. I was getting to my feet when a small blast catches me right in the face," Vira said, pointing to the visible burn marks around her metal left eyepatch. "Some shrapnel caught me right in the eye, and I got a nice beauty mark all around it for my trouble."

Faith felt very small in the company of the one-eyed soldier. Here she was, a messed-up Slayer who couldn't make a right choice to save her life, and she was standing next to a woman with every reason to hate the Empire, and she'd risked it all to save some kid she didn't know. Vira didn't have any superpowers or the Force or anything to protect her, and she still did what was right, only to have the Empire slap her around for her trouble.

Vira Septus was a real hero, and Faith felt like a pretender in the Lieutenant's shadow.

"Someone higher up the chain came down to see what was going on, and by then there were some folks out who saw me get beat around who were starting to get upset because of me. The higher-up decided to focus on putting out the fire and preventing the Sobrik natives from getting restless. He told a local doctor to take me and get the hell away from the crime scene. They told the doc not to take me very far so that they could question me when I was able to answer them.

"Luckily, this doc is a good guy with friends in the Republic. He doesn't have the materials to treat me in his little clinic, but there's a smuggler hiding out in his basement that brings in medicine that the Imps keep for themselves. The smuggler turned out to be a nice guy, running his operation with his wife and everything. They got me to Alderaan where a Republic doctor fixes up my face as best he can. He tells me that he can't replace my eye, but he does give me a fake one. This patch is good at making people think I'm a cripple, but it's got sensors in it that can see what the naked eye can't. It's not like having two real eyes, but it's what I am now.

"The point I'm trying to make, Jedi girl," Vira said not unkindly, "is that there's all sorts of shades of grey here. I killed a guy's wife and daughter with that bomb. Maybe that baby boy is growing up to be a nicer guy than his dad, but I probably just saved a life that's going to end up fighting against the Republic some day. So if you want to call yourself a murderer, Jedi girl, then get in line. In war, there are no heroes, and nobody gets out without taking and dishing out all sorts of damage. You talk like a fighter, but you don't sound like you've ever been in a war before."

Faith sighed and unfolded her arms, trying to look anywhere but at Vira's one blue eye. "Back home, on Earth, I was a fighter all right. One of the best there was. But I didn't fight people. The things I fought were more like the Rakghouls back there. I was part of this group that protected everyone else from all the monsters out there that parents told their kids about to scare them, but that nobody ever thought were actually real."

"How does an entire planet miss something like that?" Vira asked skeptically.

"Couldn't say," Faith answered honestly. "The creepy-crawlies weren't walking about in broad daylight and such. Anyone who saw one was probably dead on their feet, and that's where I came in."

"Is this where you get the strength you say you don't need the Force for?"

"I dunno where that comes from, but it's what let me fight back," Faith explained. "The way I hear it, people who don't understand the Force call it 'magic' and stuff. That's one of the words we used back home, only it's different from the Force. I didn't have it back home, but I have it here. You'd think I could use it for something other than killing people, wouldn't you?"

"Stop it, Faith!" Vira snapped. "Stop kriffin' blaming yourself for things that can't be helped!"

"Buffy wouldn't've let it go down like this," Faith said more to herself than to anyone else. "She would've saved everyone. That's what she does."

"Who's Buffy?"

"Huh?" Faith looked up at Vira and realized what she'd just been saying. "Buffy, right. Buffy is… complicated."

"So? Un-complicate things for me," Vira said dangerously.

"You know my story, right? Found on Denova without a clue? Buffy was there with me. We're from the same place. She was the good Slayer, I was the bad Slayer. The dark Slayer. The murderer," Faith spat, hating herself as she said the words she knew to be true.

"Another fighter like you?" Vira guessed.

"Yeah, she's the best of the best. And before you try to tell me that people make mistakes, I couldn't have done something so terrible, just don't. The first guy I killed, it was an accident, okay? The others weren't. I fell down a deep hole, and I kept digging myself deeper. I almost buried myself."

"What stopped you?" Vira asked without any bite.

"Angel. He was Buffy's ex, and he made himself my friend. B was pissed as all hell when she saw him helping me."

"Buffy is B?"

"Kinda. B is our besh; first letter of Buffy's name. It's been my little nickname for her since the moment we met."

"I think I see what's going on," Vira said.

"Do you, now?" Faith asked, not impressed.

"I do," Vira said confidently, but she wasn't smiling. "This isn't about self-pity. This isn't about your past or what you think you've done wrong. You're trying to be Buffy."

Of all the things Faith had been expecting to hear, that wasn't it. "What?"

"You heard me, Jedi girl," Vira snapped. "'Buffy's so wonderful.' 'Buffy's the good Slayer.' 'Buffy would have done things better.' You practically worship her and think she's perfect! For all I know, she really is all that and more. But you are not Buffy! You are Faith. You are a good woman and a hell of a fighter, and you're desperate to do what's right to make up for whatever you think you did wrong in the past. And you think that if you try to turn yourself into this Buffy person, then you'll somehow erase all your sins and live happily ever after."

Faith felt herself stepping backward, afraid of hearing the truth that was spewing from Vira Septus's mouth.

"We all mess up, Faith. And you might've only had to kill monsters and beasts where you come from, but this isn't your home. This isn't Earth. This is a galaxy at war, and you're on the right side. Those people you killed were the enemy. They were a different kind of monster than the Rakghouls and whatever else you've fought, but they were monsters all the same. As for those poor people in the tanks, you were right the first time. The best thing we can do is spare them the pain of waking up and turning into something nightmarish.

"You're not Buffy, and you don't have to be. Just be who you are. Just be Faith."

The blatant simplicity of Vira's words was such that Faith was caught off guard. After a brief silence, she laughed. "Just be Faith," she repeated. "Not sure I've ever tried that before."

"Time to start, don't you think?" Vira said with a wry smirk.

Faith nodded. "Yeah, I'm thinking you're right." The Slayer dared to smile and leaned back on the console behind her.

She felt a switch flip under her palms, and a hiss of air escaping came from the ground nearby.

Faith had her lightsaber out in an instant, and Vira had her blaster rifle out as well. The two women exchanged a silent glance of solidarity.

The solid ground began to crack, and a circle opened in an iris, allowing a sealed platform to rise up out of the ground. The capsule opened to reveal a railing around the edge and a console.

"Huh," Faith said simply. "Looks like we found the Imps' secret entrance."

"Looks that way," Vira said. "You gonna be okay, Jedi girl?"

"Call me Faith, and you have yourself a deal, Lieutenant."

"Just call me Vira, Faith. I don't have to give you a hug or anything, do I? I'm not really the motherly type."

Faith laughed. "Yeah, I'm not too big on the touchy-feely crap either. C'mon. I bet Ralto and Tal are worried about the cab we just called."

After shooting one last worried look back at the helpless Tarisians stuck in the tanks of liquid, Faith followed Vira back to the entrance of the ruin.

Major Cortland was pacing back and forth, obviously nervous. Master Ralto looked pensive, but Faith could tell through the Force that he was a bit on edge as well.

"You guys doing all right?" Faith asked.

"For the time being," Ralto said calmly. "And what about you, Faith? Have you come to any conclusions since you took off?"

"A few, yeah," Faith said. "I still think that it's a mercy to kill those people stuck in the tanks, and you're not gonna convince me otherwise. As for killing the Imps… I dunno. They weren't exactly playing nice here. I know I killed 'em, but I'm not enjoying it or getting a thrill out of it, okay?"

"That's a shame," Cortland said darkly. "Some of the things the Imps have done make this look like child's play. You'll learn to hate them soon enough."

"I certainly hope not," Ralto said. "But that is a conversation for another time, I believe. We heard a sound from your area, but I sensed no worry on your parts. I take it everything is all right?"

"We found the Imps' hidden entrance," Vira said. "Some sort of turbolift that goes through the ground."

"We'll check that out later. Do we still have to stick around for this thing?" Cortland asked, gesturing at the ruin. "It's giving me the creeps."

"We made a dent already," Faith said. "I just don't know how. Remind me what we were doing when it opened a smidge."

"Well," Ralto said, closing his eyes and concentrating, "you were focusing on the ruin, and I believe I was chastising you for your recklessness."

Faith nodded. "Right. Something we said or did must have triggered a reaction. Not sure what, though. We're not in the same state of mind, so let's go over what we said."

"Master Ralto went over what's been happening since we arrived on Taris," Cortland said. "He mentioned the clinic, then the Rakghouls, then pretending to be a Sith, and then killing the Imps. After that, he started to talk to you a bit more directly but didn't get very far before the doors budged a bit."

Faith closed her eyes and tried to shut down her roiling emotions. It was easier now that she'd had her talk with Vira. 'There is no emotion,' she reminded herself. 'There is peace.' It was a platitude that she didn't agree with all the time, but it was a helpful mantra for calming her mind.

Faith felt the Force flow through her and granting her clarity of what had happened.

"`I wonder,'" Faith repeated Ralto's words, "`Jedi Lehane, if you.' That's what-"

She didn't get to finish telling Master Ralto what he had said, since the four of them were drawn to the ruin's doors, which had crept open a little bit more.

"It's progress," Faith said. "Not enough room to squeeze through yet. So, we have a password. Jedi?"

The ruin did not react.

"Your name, Faith," Vira said darkly. "Something about your last name: Lehane."

Vira's words provoked the ruin into opening a bit more.

"Fascinating," Ralto said. "Though I imagine that your name, Faith, is not quite the word the ruin is looking for. Perhaps a variation on the pronunciation will do the trick. Lehene. Lahane. Lehon."

The first two words triggered small movements in the door. The third caused the giant stone doors to open entirely, causing vibrations in the ground as they ground against the floor of the cave.

"Remember that last one," Faith said as she drew her lightsaber. "We'll need to look it up if we ever get out of here. Weapons out, everyone. No telling what's inside here, so let's go in ready for anything."

"Right behind you, Faith," Vira said, and Faith sensed a growing bond of trust from the one-eyed redhead.

"I can't say I like this, Faith," Ralto said, "but I sense we need to see what is inside. I am ready."

"I'm with you all," Cortland said. "I just have to ask, though: Am I the only one who has a really bad feeling about this?"

"Nope," Faith said. "C'mon. In we go."

The four of them turned their wrist-mounted flashlights on and advanced into the ruin. They met a stone wall with another door built into it. There didn't seem to be a handle or opening mechanism.

"Allow me," Ralto said.

The Nautolan Master reached out with one hand and concentrated. The door slid open slowly and shakily, but it opened all the same.

"You all right, Ralto?" Faith asked.

"Mostly, I believe," he replied. "This place is strong in the Dark Side of the Force. We are already on our guard, but there may be things down here worse than what we have encountered so far. Do not give into fear."

"Sure thing," Cortland said nervously. "No fear, right."

"Hey!" Faith said harshly, striding over to the dark-skinned Major. "Get a hold of yourself! You're no good if you're all jumpy like this."

Faith took the tall man's head between her hands and forced his gaze down towards her own eyes. "Look at me, Tal. We are going to get through this, and we're all going to be more than fine, and then we're going to go and get so drunk that the hangover will make this place seem like a picnic. You with me, Tal?"

Without meaning to, Faith put more into her words than just her voice, and the Force served to reinvigorate Tal Cortland and steady his resolve. He nodded back at Faith. "I'm with you, Faith. Thanks for having my back."

"Thanks for having mine," Faith retorted with a smile. "Let's go."

The four companions marched through the door into a room that was lit with several glowing purple and orange crystals arranged on the walls like torches.

In the middle of the large room was a droid unlike any that Faith had seen before. It was easily taller than her by a few feet, and it had several arms and legs with a number of nasty-looking instruments on their ends.

The droid spoke in high-pitched language that Faith didn't recognize.

"Did you understand that?" Vira asked. "Any of you?"

"I didn't," Cortland said.

"Nor did I," Ralto concurred.

"I can say 'donde esta el baño,' but that's about it," Faith said.

Nobody asked for a translation, so Faith didn't elaborate.

The droid said something in a different language that Faith didn't recognize.

"I think I've heard that before," Cortland said. "That sounded like the Selkath language."

"There are Selkath on Taris?" Vira asked.

"What's a Selkath?" Faith queried.

"They're an aquatic species from Manaan, which provides the Republic with most of its kolto," Cortland explained.

Faith knew enough to know that kolto was the primary healing drug in the Republic, but that was about it.

The droid cycled through another set of languages, some of which were recognized by Tal and Vira, even if they didn't understand them. Faith got the feeling that Ralto could understand what the droid was saying, given the vibes she was getting off of him through the Force. She guessed he was staying quiet for the benefit of the three humans.

After another five languages…

"Who enters the domain of the Builders?" the droid said in what passed for both English and Basic. "Who dares to claim knowledge of Lehon?"

"We don't know what Lehon is," Faith declared loudly. "My name is Faith Lehane. I am a Slayer and a Jedi Knight. Who or what are the Builders?"

"Your name is a testament to the Builders' legacy," the droid said. "The Infinite Empire of the Builders is eternal and indisputable. Are you prepared to carry out the will of the Builders?"

Faith swore the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Whoever or whatever these Builders were, they sounded like the equivalent of a Big Bad back home.

"What is it that the Builders want?" Ralto asked carefully.

"Faith Lehane: You will silence your lessers," the droid said without inflection.

"Whoa. I think it believes I'm special or something," Faith said. "Just let me handle this."

Locking eyes with her three companions, Faith saw and felt their worry along with their silent trust in her.

"All right," Faith said. "What do the Builders want?"

"Before you are entrusted with the will of the Builders," the droid said, "you must face a test to prove that you are who you claim to be."

"You calling me a liar, you fucking hunk of metal?" Faith spat at the droid.

The droid did not reply, but a whirring sound caught Faith's ear, and she turned towards a corner of the room which was lit by three purple crystals.

There was a flash of light, and a large tripedal droid was suddenly looking at Faith, and she knew it was targeting her.

"Fucking droids," Faith growled. "You wanna play? Fine by me."

The droid raised four arms, each with a deadly-looking laser cannon on the end, and it opened fire.

Faith didn't wait for her allies to help her out. She was tired of being tested and questioned and having to prove herself to anyone other than herself. Acting purely on instinct, Faith leaped forward at the droid, letting the Force propel her through the air.

Landing atop the droid's head, Faith slashed her lightsaber through the two arm-cannons on its right side, severing them. The droid tried to shake her off, and Faith dropped her weapon.

An arm tried to reach backward to shoot her, but Faith wrapped her legs around the droid's elongated head and ripped the top-left arm off with her bare hands.

Summoning her lightsaber with the Force, Faith sliced the final arm cannon off, dropped to the ground, and then cut off the droid's three legs.

Finally, with a surge of anger, Faith grabbed the droid's head and ripped it off of its immobilized body and tossed it aside.

Faith let herself breathe once the fight was over, and she sensed the awe from her companions who hadn't had time to react to her fight with the droid before she'd entered the line of fire. She could also sense Ralto's worry at her anger, but Faith made sure to steady her breathing and keep calm. If she had to face these Builders, then she needed to keep her head clear. Rushing into a fight blind was a good way to get killed.

"I'm okay," Faith said as she walked back over. "I'm fine. And I think I just aced your test. Should've given me the written first."

"You have passed the trial of strength," the droid said. "You are ready to carry out the will of the Builders. You will use the knowledge of this place to find and activate the Purge Engine."

"What's a Purge Engine?" Faith asked, not liking the sound of the thing one bit.

"You will use the knowledge of this place to find and activate the Purge Engine," the droid repeated as its arms began to shift.

A cavity in the droid's body revealed itself, and a small sphere floated out of it. It spun around rapidly, but Faith didn't back away. She didn't think it was a threat.

In a flash of light, the sphere was gone, replaced by a map of what could only be the galaxy. A purple light glowed on the outer edge of the map with several lines extending out from it, and there was a glowing orange dot midway between the endpoints of those lines.

After Faith had already taken in the existing information, a green dot appeared on the map at a place where she remembered the ship's computer telling her that Taris was located. Just like the purple dot, a number of white lines stretched outward from Taris at varying lengths.

"Fascinating," Ralto said. "It appears as though the map is trying to tell us where to go next. If we look for a midpoint between these lines' endpoints, then we should find our destination right about… here."

Ralto pointed to a place on the map, and it lit up in a flicker of red light.

"We should report this to the Jedi Council," Master Ralto said. "They'll want to know of this."

"We can contact them from the ship," Faith said. "I'm thinking we should find the next place on the map before the Empire does. What's that purple dot over there?"

"That's somewhere in the Unknown Regions," Cortland said. "The only Republic presence I know of out there is on Ilum, and that purple light is a bit too far away to be Ilum. Probably Imperial space."

"Just great," Vira said. "So the Empire's already on the trail of this Purge Engine, whatever it is."

"Fun times," Faith said darkly. "I don't suppose we can take this info with us? Download it or whatever?"

"Maybe," Vira said. "Let me see if my datapad is compatible with whatever this is."

As if in response to her question, the light of the map began to flow into a funnel that spiraled into Vira's portable computer, which glowed with a soft white light once the transfer was complete.

"All right, boys and girls. I say we get the hell out of here now," Faith said. "Any objections?"

"None from me," Tal said.

"I'm ready to move," Vira agreed.

"We should go," Ralto concurred.

"All right, then. Let's move out," Faith said confidently.

As the others started to file out of the ruin, Faith felt them not just agreeing with her, but heading out because she'd given the order, almost. It was as if they trusted her enough to follow her lead.

"Just be Faith," she repeated to herself, remembering her earlier conversation with Vira. "I can do this."

Casting one final look back at the droid with too many arms, Faith steeled herself and resolved that whatever Lehon was, she wasn't going to be purging anything for any empire: Not the Sith Empire, not this so-called Infinite Empire, and for one else either.

She was Faith Lehane, she was a Slayer and a Jedi Knight, and she was okay with that.

Faith closed her eyes and mentally shed herself of the darkness pervading this place. 'Just being Faith' might not be easy, but it was what she had to do.

Just before she moved to follow her companions and exit the ruin, Faith sensed a flicker of something from where the map had been. It wasn't anything in the room with her, but she almost felt like the droid and the ruin were allowing her to sense something somewhere else in the galaxy.

Something hot and powerful and sexy was just out of reach, and Faith felt a sudden rush of longing.

"Buffy?"


	16. Buffy VIII - Master and Apprentice

**Buffy VIII - Master and Apprentice**

* * *

"Faith?"

"Is something wrong, Lord Summers?" Thriss asked gently.

Buffy knew what she had felt in the Force. She could have sworn she had heard her sister Slayer saying her name. Wherever Faith was, their bond was still unbroken.

"No, Thriss," Buffy said idly, her thoughts still on Faith. "Nothing's wrong. I just thought I felt something."

"What did you feel?" the beautiful Chiss woman asked as she dug through her apartment closet.

Buffy shook her head and cleared her thoughts. "Something private," she said a touch sternly.

"I see. I'm sorry, Lord Summers," Thriss said. "I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy."

Buffy dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. What did you say you were looking for, again?"

"My prize charric from my days in the Expansionary Defense Force. I never advanced very high in the hierarchy due to my insubordinate attitude," she explained with a smirk. "And yet, they did not discharge me until my years in the service were over. I excelled in two areas: Piloting spacecraft and marksmanship.

"This here," Thriss said, holding out a strange looking blaster rifle, "was a prize for a marksmanship contest. It can be modulated for rapid, close-range fire or else for a single, precision, long-range shot. I never had reason to touch it after I left the Defense Force, but I have a feeling it will be useful for traveling with a pair of Sith Lords."

"Are you quite finished yet?" Dalen called from the other room. He had decided to wait outside Thriss's personal bedroom out of respect for her privacy.

Buffy was tempted to call her Master a gentleman, but she didn't want to inflate his ego. For a Sith, it could prove a risky maneuver. "What do you think, Thriss? Are we done here?"

"I have a travel bag already prepared in case of a lengthy expedition. It should suffice. I don't need a lot to get by."

"All right, then," Buffy said with a smile. "We're coming, Dalen."

"Wait!" Thriss said suddenly. "I almost forgot something!"

The Chiss archaeologist went over to a small desk and removed a datapad from a drawer. "I never revealed all of my findings on any of my expeditions to Chief Archaeologist Naprol. Some of them were feelings that wouldn't stand scrutiny in Chiss scientific journals, and others I kept to myself out of a petty desire for revenge against Chiss society for not recognizing my talents for what they are."

Buffy wondered at the significance of the datapad, given that they weren't likely to be returning to Csilla anytime soon, if ever.

Thriss shrugged and looked a bit guilty. "It is a personal memento, Lord Summers, nothing more. I mean it to be something to remind me of my past and to give me a reason to move forward."

"Are you quite finished yet?" Dalen repeated.

Buffy looked to Thriss and received a nod in response. "We're coming Dalen. We promise we won't give you any cooties."

"`Cooties?' Is that a disease of some sort that I need to concern myself with, Summers?"

"I wasn't aware my apartment contained any chemical agents that were harmful to humans," Thriss said seriously.

"It was a bad joke," Buffy said, walking out of Thriss's room to find a grumpy-looking Dalen. "It's not my fault I'm the only one in this galaxy from my planet."

"What do you mean, you're the only one?" Thriss asked.

Buffy mentally smacked herself for her carelessness. She could have sworn that she had already told Thriss about her almost-unique situation in this universe or galaxy or whatever it was, but apparently she had not.

"My apprentice comes from a world that was until recently unknown to the Empire," Dalen explained. "She claims to have been taken from her home to a recently discovered world rich in baradium that is now being fought over. She was found in the middle of the fighting and taken to train as a Sith."

"What's baradium?" Buffy asked.

"It is a material used in high-yield explosives," Thriss explained. "If the Empire and the Republic are both truly preparing for another war, then such a material would be a valuable asset. And you claim that your homeworld was not this baradium-rich planet, Lord Summers?"

"As far as I know, it wasn't. I don't think Denova and Earth are the same place. I'm guessing you would've all been shocked to find an unknown planet populated only by humans."

"It is not unheard of," Dalen said fairly. "However, Denova's native species are not human. You were the only human the Empire recovered who was not a prisoner from the Republic."

Buffy frowned as she exited the apartment. "Great. More slaves for the Imperial War Machine."

"What do you mean by that, Lord Summers?" Thriss asked gently as she followed after Buffy.

"My apprentice speaks out of ignorance," Dalen said shortly. "We found no native sentient life on Denova. There were some interesting plant species that could have uses in pharmaceutical production, and a few predatory species that might be imported to Korriban for aspiring Sith to test themselves against, but nothing more than that."

"That doesn't change the fact that unless you're Force-sensitive, anyone in the Empire who isn't a Red Sith or a human is going to be a slave by default," Buffy said darkly. She knew, logically, that Dalen was not a slave driver, and she knew that he could not be held accountable for the actions of a thousand-year-old Empire, but the beauty of Csilla and of the Chiss people had Buffy contemplating the fate of 'aliens' in the Empire.

"Lord Dalen, is this true?" Thriss asked coldly as they exited the apartment building.

While Thriss climbed into the driver's seat of her speeder, Buffy got in the front passenger seat while Dalen took the rear of the vehicle.

"You must understand, Thriss, that the Sith of ages past were driven into exile by the Republic and the Jedi. They had already won the Great Hyperspace War, and our defeat was certain. It wasn't enough for the zealots, and they sought to exterminate us entirely. It was only thanks to our Emperor that we managed not only to survive, but to find the long lost world of Dromund Kaas and thrive into the power that we are now.

"There were many among our number who had once been part of the Republic, and these were enslaved to ensure that our extermination would never come to pass," Dalen explained patiently as Thriss drove to the spaceport. "Strength and power in their rawest form are not the only expressions of those attributes. Cunning and guile are just as much expressions of strength as lifting a heavy object or defeating a powerful foe. Had those of the Republic had the strength to beat us, then they would be thriving in our Empire."

"The Sith don't take prisoners as much as they tend to execute those who are a threat to them. Why did you take so many slaves?"

"We might have been a weakened people," Dalen said patiently, "but we had the Force to guide us. Even so, it would not have been enough. The Empire was built on the backs of races that many Sith deem 'lesser' due to their birth status as the descendants of slaves. The Dark Side is fueled by passion, as you know. Fear is one of the greatest motivators of such, and the fear of losing what little we had forced us to subjugate the other races we encountered."

"Surely, your Empire must have grown to become self-sufficient," Thriss said coolly. "Why continue such a foolish practice as slavery?"

"It had become a part of our culture by then," Dalen said with as much regal clout as he could muster. "Power for a Sith is as much the perceptions of others as it is our own true might. For a Sith to maintain his status and power, he must deter all possible challenges to his rule. Maintaining the slave caste of the Empire was a sure way to preserve the power of true Sith."

"I get the feeling you don't much like the notion of slavery, Thriss," Buffy probed gently.

"I do not," the Chiss answered coldly. "The practice is not only barbaric, but it is counter-productive to the Empire's interests."

"Is it, really?" Dalen asked, but Buffy sensed that he was more curious about Thriss's opinion and was not seeking to challenge her. "What lies behind that conclusion, Thriss?"

Thriss shot a cold glance over her shoulder at Dalen before responding. "People are not domestic animals. They are sentient beings that should not be counted as mere property. We are aware of cultures that do keep slaves, but economic relations with those cultures are a low priority in the Ascendency. Also, if you keep otherwise capable individuals stuck in the lowest of cultural roles, you prohibit your Empire from profiting from their strengths. All points of view should be considered and all assets should be accounted for before a determination of their worth is made."

"You speak wisely," Dalen said. Buffy could feel the contentment rolling off of him. "For many in the Empire, the purity of one's heritage has become a thing of great importance. The worth of a being is less often determined by their merits and more by their station of birth. I agree that this notion is an archaic one, but if I were to voice such opinions more loudly than I already do, then I would be seen as challenging the tenets of the Empire."

"And a challenge to the Empire is a threat to the Empire," Buffy finished for her Master. "The Empire doesn't let threats of any kind go without being killed or destroyed. The trick is to keep your true feelings and opinions hidden. Power for a Sith is as much psychological as it is physical or metaphysical. You want to be prepared for any possible threats to your own personal power. To ensure you always have an edge against your potential enemies, you have to keep some of your powers and secrets to yourself. That way, anyone who gets close enough to threaten you won't live to tell anyone else what your secret strengths are."

Thriss tucked her speeder into the airway that led to the spaceport, and then switched on the autopilot. The traffic lane was mostly devoid of other craft, and the computer was smart enough to keep them on a steady course.

"Your Empire is a study in contradictions," Thriss said with a curious edge to her voice. "You promote practices that seem barbaric to the outside eye, and yet you come to me, civilized and powerful individuals, from this very society. The Empire is a force to be reckoned with, and yet its leaders are constantly fighting for supremacy. The fact that you have not only survived as a galactic power, but thrived in your exile, is a testament to your staying power. I fear, however, that I will not be welcome by others in sthe Empire."

"Two things that you might want to reconsider," Buffy said. She sensed a bit of darkness in Dalen as she assumed control of the conversation, but she ignored it. "The Sith are all about the Force. The Force is the ultimate expression of power, and while I don't think it's something that's been going on for a while, anyone in the Empire, no matter what their species or caste, is taken to train as a Sith if they are sensitive to the Force."

"A smart decision," Thriss said approvingly. "And the other notion you wish to correct?"

"The Dark Council is always changing. They will always die, whether of old age or from a rival's lightsaber. The Dark Council, however, is not the ultimate authority of the Empire. I don't pretend to understand the Emperor, but the way everyone else talks about him, he's more of a god to the Sith than he is a leader. If he really has lived and ruled for over a thousand years…" Buffy trailed off and let her words resonate. "Well, I've seen stranger things."

"I had always wondered why the Sith were called an Empire when it was ruled by twelve councilors," Thriss said quietly. "I suspect that the mystique surrounding the Emperor is more of a distraction than truth."

"Excavator Mitth'ris'sintar!" Dalen shouted.

Thriss whipped her head around and stared at Dalen with wide eyes.

"Such notions, such thoughts… If you were in more traditional company, you would have likely been killed for voicing such thoughts, no matter that this is your homeworld and we are but visitors. It is common, even expected, to challenge other Sith. Many seek to join the Dark Council by plotting the downfall of one of their number. Challenging the Emperor, however, is something that no Imperial citizen would dare to even think about, let alone voice aloud."

Thriss arched an eyebrow and returned her attention to the road. "You were not exaggerating, Lord Summers," she said coolly. "They really do deify him."

"`They?'" Buffy said with a small smirk. "You don't think I'm as Sith as the rest of them, do you?"

"I do not," Thriss confirmed. "You do not speak with an Imperial accent, and you do not blindly accept their preconceptions. To the objective observer, you had no preconceptions towards the Empire or the Republic until you were taken to Korriban. I trust your opinion over that of any other Sith. Lord Dalen? Have I said something to upset you?"

Buffy turned to Dalen and sensed his growing discomfort and anger.

"I am unaccustomed," Dalen said carefully, "to someone speaking their mind as casually as you tend to, Thriss. Among Sith, personal opinions tend to be carefully guarded. One does not simply reveal one's feelings to another without considering the ramifications."

Thriss seemed to consider this for a moment. "If I am to learn the ways of the Force, then perhaps I should reevaluate the social customs I am familiar with. Chiss society emphasizes communal integrity and trust of one's peers. Sith thinking seems contrary to the Chiss cultural mindset."

"Yeah, I can see that," Buffy said. "But that's not what's bugging Dalen so much."

"Apprentice," Dalen warned.

"Master," Buffy shot back sarcastically. "You've made it clear quite a few times, Thriss, that you see me as more powerful than Dalen. You said just now that you'd trust my opinion over any other Sith. You've all but deemed me to be the best Sith there is in your eyes."

"What of it?" Thriss said casually.

"You've been challenging Dalen with each of those remarks," Buffy explained patiently. "Every time you say how powerful I am, or how much you value my opinion, you're basically slapping Dalen in the face by telling him that you'd support me over him."

"What does that matter?" Thriss said with a hint of surprise. "I meant no disrespect, Lord Dalen. You seem to be an honorable man with valuable insights, and while you are a product of the Empire, you do not follow blindly. Do you fear me?"

Dalen gritted his teeth and pointedly looked away.

"He's too polite to say anything," Buffy explained, "but I think he's afraid that I'm going to kill him sooner than he thought I would."

"Why would you do such a thing? You are both powerful Sith, and you temper your power with wisdom. Why would you waste your lives fighting each other?"

"Dalen still has trouble reminding himself that I'm not like most Sith," Buffy said pointedly, making sure to drive home her words with the Force to make sure that Dalen understood her. "The way of the Sith is for one generation to teach and train the next. When the apprentice feels that she is more powerful than her master, she tends to take his place in the hierarchy by killing him. The Sith believe that this is one of the best ways to ensure that only the strongest rule the Empire."

"I pity you, Lord Dalen," Thriss said kindly.

That got Dalen's attention, and he swung his head back around and reached out with the Force.

Buffy watched in horror as Thriss began to struggle with breathing, and her fingers went to her throat to try and remove some unseen obstruction. The speeder's autopilot ignored the confrontation and continued towards the spaceport.

"What are you doing?" Buffy hissed.

"A Sith does not need pity," Dalen snarled. "A Sith is not a weak being who requires the approval of outsiders! A Sith is strength and power and victory, and I will not be pitied by this slip of a girl who does not understand our ways!"

Buffy leaned her seat backwards and crawled over to clasp a hand over Dalen's throat. "You agreed to take Thriss with us to gain her insights," Buffy hissed dangerously. "You took me as your apprentice to see the Empire through a new set of eyes. If you're going to let your pride rob you of such a source of power, then you are no Sith, and I will kill you right now for the short-sighted fool that you're making yourself look like."

Thriss continued to gasp and clutch at her throat.

"If she dies, you die," Buffy said darkly. "Your move, Shar."

Perhaps out of shock that Buffy had dared to call Dalen by his first name, he let slip his grasp on Thriss and turned to look at Buffy with wide eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid," Buffy warned him. "I can still crush your throat in an instant if you make me."

"You should have killed me," Dalen said softly. "Any real Sith would have."

"That's why you chose me," Buffy said, releasing her grasp on his throat. "I'm not like any Sith you've ever met before. I won't act like most Sith. I'm unpredictable, and that makes me mighty. I have strength that you can't imagine, Shar Dalen. I could kill you in so many ways without breaking a sweat. I could seize the mantle of Sith Lord for myself if I wanted to."

"Then why don't you?" Thriss asked. Her breath was raspy, and Buffy could sense the Chiss's simultaneous dread and awe at her companions' actions.

"Because I'd rather have an ally than a dead former Master. I'd rather have someone I can count on to help me through this Empire that I still know so little about. And I'd also rather have one more good man alive in this galaxy than kill him for no good reason.

"Tell him why you pity him, Thriss. I know I pity him, but I want to hear your reasoning before I tell him mine."

Thriss looked at Dalen with a hint of fear in her gaze, but Buffy felt her harness that fear and use it to rejuvenate her after her ordeal. "I pity you, Lord Dalen, because of how lonely you must be. A Sith's existence sounds like a solitary one. I would not wish that upon you."

The speeder's computer beeped, prompting Thriss to return her attention to the road. "We've almost arrived. Disengaging autopilot." Taking control of the vehicle once again, Thriss navigated her speeder towards a speeder depot just outside the spaceport proper.

"What are you thinking, Dalen?" Buffy asked the man she knew she would never again call 'Master.'

"I am thinking," Dalen said, "that you and your apprentice have much to teach me, Lord Summers."

Buffy couldn't help but smirk at Dalen's acknowledgment of her supremacy, even if she didn't believe for a moment that she was his better.

"And we both have much to learn from you, Lord Dalen," Buffy countered.

Dalen looked into Buffy's eyes hesitantly. "What are you proposing, Buffy?"

Smiling ever wider at the familiarity between them, Buffy looked back into Dalen's blue gaze. "Nothing more than what we already have: An alliance between equal partners. We can keep up the formalities in 'polite company,' but in practice, we'd be a team. We'd help each other out and support each other, just like Darth Revan did. A reliable source told me that you're an admirer of the man."

Dalen's eyes were wide as he considered the ramifications of what his no-longer apprentice was suggesting. "You would have me as an ally? Not a subject?"

"Do I need to smack you, Shar?" Buffy said sarcastically. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. And anything more is going into territory that you wouldn't understand."

Thriss laughed. "You doubt Lord Dalen's ability to comprehend sincerity?"

"Nope. Just his ability to comprehend Dr. Seuss."

Dalen looked ready to ask a question, but then seemed to think better of it. "I think, Lord Buffy Summers, that you have the power to change the Empire for the better."

Buffy smiled. "With your help, Shar Dalen," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "and with your help, Mitth'ris'sintar." The other hand went to Thriss's shoulder. "I think we can all become a real force to be reckoned with."

"You really think I have the potential to be Sith?" Thriss asked. "And are you sure you want me as an ally, Lord Dalen?"

"I think that you have great potential, Thriss," Dalen said. "And for what it is worth, I regret my rough handling of you. I acted in haste, without thought for the consequences. While the Sith must be creatures of passion, we must be the masters of our passions, lest they master and destroy us."

"Then it's settled," Buffy said. "Together, I'd say we form a nice little Sith Triumvirate."


	17. Faith VIII - We'll Always Have Taris

**Faith VIII - We'll Always Have Taris**

* * *

"What? We're just leaving?" Faith asked incredulously. "We're just gonna leave these people in the tanks like we found 'em?"

"It is not our decision to make," Ralto explained patiently. "Their lives or deaths are for their families to decide. We will have to inform the proper authorities and allow them to handle this matter."

Faith shook her head. "I thought we were the 'proper authorities.'"

"Not quite," Tal said. "Local law enforcement gets to call the shots here. These people aren't a threat to the Republic. It's a Tarisian matter, so they'll handle it."

Faith groaned. "My memories of local cops don't include anyone who gave a damn or else who knew what to do if they did."

"Well then, be thankful that we're not on your homeworld," Vira snapped. "If it were up to me, we'd end these people's suffering right now. But it's not up to me, so we won't."

"Remember, Faith," Ralto said patiently, "the Empire designed this strain to take effect after a delay. Even if the Republic can't synthesize a cure, that delay may give their loved ones time enough to get some closure. To say 'goodbye,' as it were."

Faith wanted to argue the issue, but Ralto had a point that she couldn't deny. "I guess so," she said reluctantly. "I've just seen stuff like this before, and there's no happy ending."

"We know, Faith," Tal said softly. "All we can do now is hope for the best. There might be enough research left here to find a cure. So long as those people are in stasis, they won't be transforming into Rakghouls. If all goes well, they might get back to their normal lives."

Faith knew it was a long shot, but she also know that if there was the slimmest chance to save Buffy or Angel if they were dying, she'd take it. For these people's families, it had to be the same.

"All right," Faith said at last. "We leave the vats alone for now. As long as we're planning on getting out of here, I'm wondering where that goes," she said, pointing to the turbolift. "It's probably nowhere near where any Republic folks would think to look. My guess is there's an Imp base on the other side."

"That is probably a safe assumption," Ralto agreed. "Before you say anything, Faith, I would recommend against going in there alone and impersonating a Sith Lord again. The facility is likely to be staffed by genuine intelligence operatives who will know for certain whether or not any Sith Lords are on Taris."

"Also, if you're going to be an Intelligence-affiliated Sith in the future, Faith," Tal put in, "I heard a report that Darth Jadus isn't in charge anymore. Reports are sketchy, but we do know that Darth Zhorrid is now in charge of Imperial Intelligence. More than that is sketchy, save that she's not the sanest of Sith Lords."

"Here, allow me," Vira said as she moved over to a communications console. "I like to think I have a way with tech. There's probably some sort of information feed going both ways. Doesn't look like it's active at the moment, but if I can hack the connection," Vira said as she began entering a series of commands, "then we should be able to hear… Got it!"

A sound not unlike a static-filled phone connection came from the console before easing into distinct voices.

"…positive identification of the false Sith?"

"Not quite, but the image has a 71 percent correlation with another taken by one of our operatives at the Jedi Temple two weeks ago. It's a probable match given that the angles of the images were-"

"Shut up, everyone! The feed at the ruin's been activated. We're being monitored."

"Scrub everything immediately! And get that false Sith's image and alias out before we lose the opportunity!"

"Damn!" Major Cortland swore. "They were watching. If we want to get the drop on them before your cover becomes useless, we have to move."

"Way ahead of you, Tal." Faith said, rushing over to the lift. "You coming?"

The two soldiers and the Jedi Master were already on their way.

A few seconds later, Vira entered a command and the lift descended into the ground and then began to speed sideways. Faith could feel the small pod change direction a few times as it traveled at high speed before beginning a quick ascent.

Faith looked to Ralto and met his gaze. He nodded to her as he drew his lightsaber, a silent gesture of trust and readiness.

The lift's door opened and Faith and Ralto stepped forward and deflected a hail of blaster bolts headed in their direction from plainclothes operatives. As the two Jedi advanced forward, they deflected enough of the bolts back to their senders to allow Cortland and Septus to exit the lift and lay down fire of their own.

The room was small, barely larger than a high school classroom back on Earth. Faith sensed some familiar presences coming from outside of the building, and she realized that they must be within the confines of the Republic base. The Force signatures of some of the refugees she'd advocated for earlier were as distinctive as fingerprints.

Tal sent one last series of bolts at a woman desperately typing on a console. She went down just as her console exploded in a blast of blue electricity.

Faith watched as all around her, every one of the fancy-looking computer consoles in the room self-destructed.

"Check for survivors," Ralto said urgently.

"No good," Vira said as she knelt by a man with a wound to his torso. "This one ate a suicide capsule. I'm guessing they all did when they realized we had the upper hand."

"Damn." Faith was pissed. "So we have no way of figuring out what they knew about us and who else in the Empire might know?"

"Taris is very close to the Imperial border," Ralto said carefully. "It's probable that there is a ship within communications range to receive data from this station. The technology is quite a bit more sophisticated than any standard Imperial equipment I'm familiar with."

"You've got that right," Vira said. "I don't recognize half of this stuff. You, Major?"

"You're asking the wrong guy, Lieutenant," Cortland said sadly. "I'm not the most complicated man in the galaxy. Ask me about tactics, strategy, demolitions, weapons, I'm your man. Give me a ship, I can probably fly it well enough. Spies and their computers aren't really my areas of expertise."

Vira swore. "We need to report this to the SIS, and we need to do it yesterday."

"Hold on a sec," Faith said, spinning her head around to face Vira. "Where did that come from?"

"Where'd what come from?"

"`SIS' Those aren't aurek-besh letters. Those are English letters."

"Technically, it's called 'aurebesh,'" Ralto said. "As to the usage of those letters… Well, I don't know the background, but many droids use similar abbreviations in their designations."

"It's military jargon," Tal explained. "Or it was centuries ago. Maybe before the Great Hyperspace War, even, the troops would use different letters as code to represent aurebesh letters."

"Huh." Faith decided not to wonder too long about this new correlation between her home and this strange other universe. "So, what does SIS stand for?"

"Strategic Information Service," Vira answered. "Our version of Imperial Intelligence, complete with a fancier name."

"Names have power," Ralto said sagely. "The Strategic Information Service is a name meant to make Republic citizens feel safe and protected. Imperial Intelligence is meant to keep the people of the Empire in line through fear."

Faith snorted. "Yeah, well right now, the only thing I'm feeling is pissed off at these fucking spooks getting the drop on us."

"`Spook?'" Ralto asked gently.

"Spy," Faith clarified. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't wanna stick around here any longer than we have to. Let's get the hell out of here and make a few calls. I bet the suits in charge are just gonna love this."

* * *

Once the BT-7 Thunderclap that had been requisitioned to the group was in orbit, Major Cortland made a call to Coruscant, and Colonel Wilhelm Walburn's image was now fizzling in and out of view in the holoprojector.

"Rep- … -ajor," the static-filled visage said.

"The newer strain of the Rakghoul plague has been contained, Colonel," Cortland said. "They were testing a variant with a delayed reaction to turn infected hosts into time bombs that would mutate only after returning to a population center. Local officials are helping the test subjects say their goodbyes, but some have chosen to remain in stasis in the hope that a cure can be found."

"Damn! That's … -rom ideal, but I suppose it coul- … -een a lot worse. I'll coordi- … -ocal authorities to addre- … -atter. How is your team holding up?"

"Well enough, sir," Cortland said. "Master Ralto and Jedi Lehane have both proven invaluable to the mission, and Lieutenant Septus is every bit the soldier she's always been, sir. We work well together."

"Well, that's … -ess thing to worry about. Lieu- … -eptus, do you have anything to add?"

"Sir, the Rakghoul plague wasn't all that the Imperials were working on," Vira said. "They'd set up shop next to a ruin of some sort that they said predates the Republic by about five thousand years. The Jedi managed to get us inside, and we've discovered what looks like a map that leads to something called a 'Purge Engine.' With respect, Colonel, I believe this is something we should follow up on."

"Is that so?" Walburn said thoughtfully. "Maj- … -land, your thoughts?"

"I think it's worth pursuing, sir," Tal added. "I should also add that the map we found had a highlighted area in the Unknown Regions, well within the reach of the Empire. I should also add that Imperial Intelligence had an outpost listening into the laboratory. We neutralized it, but not before they wiped all of their computers. In addition, Faith's cover as a Sith may be compromised."

"Major, you disa- … me," Walburn said sternly. "That should ha- … -the first thing you mentioned. I'll be sure to- … -eam to go over the Imperial safe house. Mas- … -to, do you have anything to add?"

"Well Colonel, I believe that the possibility of 'Lord Fidelis's' cover being blown is nothing to concern ourselves with. That disguise is unsettling, personally, and I will be glad to be rid of it," Ralto said calmly.

Faith grumbled under her breath, not liking Ralto's attitude.

"I would like to request, however," Ralto added, "that Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus continue to work with us as we seek out this 'Purge Engine.' A map inside the ruin led us to believe that the Empire may be pursuing this as well. These ruins appear to be attuned to the Force, and if the Purge Engine is also a Force-sensitive thing, it could be lethal in the wrong hands. As Major Cortland said, we work well together."

"I see," Walburn said carefully. His image kept flickering, but he held a thoughtful pose. "Very well," he said at last. "Pending approval of … -di Council, Majo- … and Lieu- … -tus will operate under your comma- … -alto."

"What, doesn't anybody care about what I have to say?" Faith remarked.

Walburn sighed. "Do you ha- … to say?"

"Yeah, I do," Faith said. "The place had a password or something. It responded to my last name, which wasn't quite the password, but it was close. Look up 'Lehon' and see if you can get anything. The Republic's been around for ages, so you've gotta have a ton of records, right?"

"You said 'Lehon?' I see." Walburn turned to look at something out of the holoprojector's field of view and made a comment that Faith couldn't hear before turning back to them. "Very well. If you'll excu- … -ave a committee meet- … -ust attend. Colonel Walburn out."

The holoprojector flickered out again and didn't reactivate.

"Is it just me, or does that guy have some issues with me?" Faith asked of no one in particular.

"Don't take it personally, Faith," Tal said. "The Colonel's the kind of guy who takes a lot away from first impressions, but he'll acknowledge and respect what you've done regardless. It just takes more time and effort for him to warm up to some people."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Vira said with a teasing elbow into Tal's side. "I mean, he warmed up to you pretty quick, didn't he, Major? It only took what? Eight months? Or was it a year before he'd deign to ask you for your opinion on anything?"

"Shut up, Lieutenant," Cortland said with a barely-repressed smile. "So, what's our next move?"

"I believe we should contact the Jedi Council with our findings before we attempt to integrate the ruin's data into our computers," Ralto said. "There could be some incompatibilities that we might be unprepared for."

"Ugh, I hate this part," Cortland grumbled.

"What part is that, Tal?" Faith asked.

"That would be the 'getting in touch with Tython' part," Vira explained. "The hyperspace lanes leading into the Deep Core are so turbulent that they've had to install a special set of comm relays, and getting at just the right distance from one of those buoys is a task in of itself."

Faith shrugged. "So, it's like finding bars for a phone. How hard can it be?"

* * *

"No! Go back! We just had a connection!"

"Go back where?" Tal shouted from the cockpit.

"Calm yourself, Faith," Ralto said. "Stretch out with the Force, and you will see clearly where our ship is in relation to the relay."

Faith scowled. "Calm, right. I can do calm, sure."

"Please move the ship two meters port, Major," Ralto said calmly.

"What was that?"

"He said two meters port!" Vira shouted from the corridor connecting the two rooms. Faith doubted that Vira did calm very well either.

"All right," Tal shouted back. "I can do this. Two meters port… Damn! Overshot it. Give me just a moment and I'll-"

"Stop! Right there, just stop!" Faith shouted. "The thing is beeping and flashing, which means we have a signal, right?"

"Yes, Faith," Ralto said with a patient sigh. "I believe we have a connection."

"Fantastic," Vira growled. It was clear she did not relish playing the relay-woman between the holoprojector and the cockpit. "Just don't touch anything, okay, Tal?"

"All right! All right! I'm not touching anything!" Cortland protested.

"I'm opening the channel now," Ralto said as he input a few commands.

A protocol droid with a trapezoidal head appeared as a blue hologram. "This is Tython Orbital Control. Please state your authorization code."

"This is Jedi Master Ralto Nalarn, clearance code Cherek-Esh-Nern Green with a priority Besh-Resh Two message."

Faith looked at Ralto, surprised. She had not known that there was any more to his name other than what she'd always called him. Was there a story there, she wondered.

"Clearance code recognized," the droid said. "Please stand by."

The droid's translucent blue visage flickered out.

"So now we wait?" Faith asked.

"Indeed, we do," Ralto said. "Hopefully it will not take long for the Jedi Council to respond."

"You really think this is big enough to involve the Jedi Council?" Vira asked with a hint of awe in her voice. Faith noted that the tough-as-nails soldier might not be as jaded as she had thought.

"I do," Ralto said simply. "Ah, here we are."

The holoprojector flickered again, and the image of a seated Satele Shan came into being. "This is Grand Master Shan. Are you reading me, Master Ralto?"

"I am, Master Shan, and I come with distressing news from Taris. If I might ask: Why is the entire Council not here?"

"The Jedi Council is dispersed at the moment. The Order as a whole is spread pretty thin," Satele said. "I promise you that I'll share your report with all of them as soon as I'm able."

"I understand," Ralto said. "Were you apprised of our mission to Taris?"

"I was," Satele confirmed. "You were investigating a new strain of the Rakghoul plague. Has it been contained?"

"We believe so," Ralto said. "However, the Imperial laboratory was underground, where their efforts with the Rakghoul virus were secondary to a Force-attuned ruin that we found. Preliminary reports suggest that it predates both the Republic and the Jedi."

"It wasn't exactly a happy place, either," Faith put in. "The whole thing stank, only not with a smell, y'know? It was more of a cold feeling, only not like winter. It's kinda hard to describe."

"You were likely sensing the presence of the Dark Side of the Force," Satele observed carefully. "What did you discover about it, other than its age?"

"There was a droid inside," Ralto said. "It was of an alien design, and it spoke several times in different languages. I assume it was looking for a translation that we would understand. Basic did not come around for quite some time."

"The door to the ruin was closed," Faith put in. "It only budged when Ralto said my last name: Lehane. We figured it was some sort of password, but the real password was 'Lehon.' The droid challenged us about it, and it claimed that my name was a tribute or something to the Builders, whoever they are."

"Whatever these Builders were," Ralto said, "the droid claimed that they had an 'Infinite Empire.' The droid tested Faith and called the rest of us her lessers, presumably because of her name. A combat droid materialized out of thin air and attacked her. Faith was more than up to the challenge, and the droid provided us a map and ordered us to seek out and activate something called a 'Purge Engine.'"

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here," Faith interrupted, "and guess that we don't want something with a name like that running around out there. Oh! And the map showed another bit of progress in the Unknown Regions, close to the border. I'm guessing we're not the only ones on the trail of this thing."

"This is most disturbing," Satele said. "I recognize some of those words. They were in the journal of my ancestor, Bastila. I don't remember the specifics – I'll look it all up again later – but if I were to venture a guess, I'd say that there's a connection between this Purge Engine and the Star Forge."

"The Star Forge?" Vira interrupted from the corridor. "Sorry, Master Shan, but wasn't that some alien factory that made entire fleets out of nothing?"

Satele sighed, and Faith thought she looked tired. "That would be correct. Master Ralto, Jedi Faith, I'm giving you both leave to seek out more information about this Purge Engine. You're already on the trail, so you're best placed to deal with it. Keep me updated as things develop."

"Yes, Master Shan," Ralto said. "Is there anything else?"

"I'll send a message to you when I've had a chance to read over the contents of Bastila's journal again. Other than that, I can only stress how dangerous I sense this mission will be, and for all of you to be mindful of events around you in both the mundane world and in the Force."

"We understand, Master Shan," Ralto said. "May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with us all," Satele said grimly. "Tython out."

The image flickered out of existence.

"All right," Vira said. "You can move now, Major. Pull up the galaxy map so we can plug the nav data into the computer."

"Assuming that's our next move, Master Jedi?" Tal added as he input some commands.

"Yes, that is our next step," Ralto said as he moved to the cockpit, Faith trailing just behind him.

As soon as the Nautolan Master pulled out his datapad, a stream of white energy flowed out of the pad and into the ship's computer, and the galaxy map lit up with the same data that they had seen in the ruin.

"All right," Tal said. "Now we can run this image through the data we have collected so we can find where to go next. And our destination is..."

Vira swore when she saw the image of the world. "Nar Shaddaa. This is not going to end well."

"What's wrong?" Faith asked.

"A few things," Tal sad. "First of all, it's a moon controlled by the Hutt Cartel. Anything and everything is for sale for the right price. It's not a good place to go about on a covert mission."

"More than that," Ralto added, "Nar Shaddaa is like a darker, seedier version of Coruscant. It's a giant city that's been built up over thousands of years. And assuming the next stop on our journey is as old as we think it is, we're likely to have to look on the surface of the moon."

"What's so bad about that?"

"You don't understand," Vira said. "Nar Shaddaa is dangerous on the best of days, in the best locales. The further down you go, the fewer traces of civilization you find. Nobody knows what's at the bottom of Nar Shaddaa because nobody's crazy enough to go down there."

"Well, it's a good thing we're all that crazy, then. Isn't it?" Faith asked with a smirk.

Tal sighed. "I'll plot a course. It'll take a bit of time. Why don't we all get some rest?"

"Fine by me," Faith said. "I'll be in my bunk."

Leaving the cockpit, Faith made her way to a small cabin on the starboard side of the ship and plopped herself down on the hard bed and closed her eyes.

Faith thought she felt a soft breeze blow across her face, which wrinkled up in annoyance.

Opening her eyes, Faith sat up in her bed.

Only it wasn't her bed. It was a queen-sized bed with a soft mattress in a familiar bedroom a very long way away from Taris or Nar Shaddaa.

A stir of motion to her left told Faith that she wasn't alone in the bed.

"Buffy?"


	18. Interlude - Things Change

**Interlude - Things Change**

* * *

A soft, warm breeze teased Buffy's skin, causing her eyes to flutter open.

She was in a soft bed that vaguely registered as not normal, but she didn't think much of it.

"Buffy?"

The voice that had spoken her name had come from right beside her, and Buffy turned to her right to see a familiar face looking down on her while sitting up next to her in the bed.

"Faith."

"It was cold outside," Faith said. "It's getting colder all the while."

"There's a storm coming," Buffy said.

"It's gathering even now." Faith got out from under the sheets and moved to make the bed on her side.

Buffy followed Faith's lead. "The storm isn't here yet."

"Isn't it?"

The two Slayers fell into the familiar routine of making the bed. When Buffy looked up at Faith, however, her eyes widened as she took in the soft aura of golden light surrounding her fellow Slayer.

"You're glowing," Buffy said proudly. "You're so bright, it almost hurts. Is this a bad day for a picnic?"

"I don't know," Faith said.

Buffy couldn't see Faith very clearly, but she thought she could sense her sister Slayer squinting her eyes.

"Are you burning?" Buffy asked.

"Could be. Things fall apart and need to come together again."

"Us?"

"Everything," Faith said simply.

Buffy looked down at the bed and smoothed out the black satin sheets before pulling the red quilt over them. "It's not like it used to be, is it?"

"Nothing ever is, B."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"You tell me."

Buffy scrunched up her face in deep thought. "I couldn't say."

"Me neither," Faith said.

* * *

"What are you thinking, Faith?"

Looking up across the bed, Faith narrowed her eyes to try and make out Buffy through the dark haze that covered her face.

"You've been too long in the snow," Faith said. "Cold days, dark days… They're all over you."

"Strange," Buffy said. "They felt so hot."

"They always do at first," Faith said. She smoothed the white cotton sheets down and pulled the soft blue quilt over them.

"What do you think is out there?" Buffy asked.

"Shall we go and see?" Faith asked.

"I think we should."

"All right, then."

Faith walked over to the door, Buffy right by her side, and she turned the knob.

The two Slayers stepped outside into a snow-filled swamp. A swarm of Rakghouls was closing on them, but their skin wasn't its sickly greenish hue, but a bluer color. They also had glowing red eyes.

"They're hideous," Faith said.

"They're beautiful," Buffy countered.

Faith shook her head. "You've stared overlong into the abyss, B."

"Do you think it stared back?"

"Anything's possible."

A Rakghoul lunged at Faith, and a quick slice of her blue lightsaber cut it in half.

"What are you doing?!" Buffy cried.

"It attacked me," Faith said simply.

"It was a friend," Buffy whined as she knelt over its corpse.

"What are we now?" Faith asked.

"I don't know. Nothing's like it was."

"It never is."

* * *

Buffy stared sadly at the mutated Chiss, wondering what could have happened to the gentle, proud species. Whatever it was, it surely couldn't justify death, could it?

"Why can't things be simpler?" Buffy lamented. "Why can't we just go home?"

Buffy saw Faith look around. "All right, then. Let's go home."

Faith reached down a hand that Buffy saw glowing with light. Buffy grasped it with her own paler, clammier hand and rose to her feet.

As she reached her full height, Buffy found herself back in the bedroom.

"What happened to the pillows?" Buffy asked as she looked at the bed.

"They clashed with the sheets," Faith said.

"So they did," Buffy agreed.

"Hey, B?"

"Yeah, Faith?"

"Do you still want to be here with me?"

"Of course, I do!" Buffy said with shock. Why would Faith ask such a thing? "Do you want to be here with me?"

"I do," Faith said softly. "It just isn't what it used to be."

"It can be," Buffy argued.

Faith looked around. "We need to redecorate."

"Totally."

Faith took Buffy's hands in between her own. "You're cold."

Faith's warm, soft, glowing hands made Buffy feel dirty. "Too long out in the dark, like you said," Buffy said.

"Come back to me," Faith cooed softly.

Buffy closed her eyes and leaned into Faith.

Their lips touched, and for that moment, everything wrong with the world faded away and was gone.

The moment passed, their lips left each other, and the world was an imperfect place once more.

"Always be there for me?" Buffy pleaded.

"Always," Faith promised. "And you?"

"The same," Buffy agreed.

Faith sighed. "Such a busy day ahead of us. We should get some rest."

"Yes, we should," Buffy said.

The two Slayers went over to their twin beds and they each tucked themselves in. Faith pulled her blue quilt and white sheets over her while Buffy wrapped herself in black and red.

"What do you think we'll dream of?" Faith asked.

"Each other, I hope," Buffy replied.

"I hope so, too," Faith said. "Good night, Buffy."

"Good day, Faith."


	19. Buffy IX - Anchorhead

**Buffy IX - Anchorhead**

* * *

Buffy stared at her hand, turning it over and examining every tiny line in her palm and each little swirl on the tips of her fingers.

"Dalen," she said distractedly, "do I look off-color to you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked from beside the holoprojector.

"Do I look any paler than usual? Any less healthy?"

"You look perfect," Thriss put in before Dalen could respond.

Buffy grinned at the Chiss's obvious idolization of her. One part of her thought that she should set Thriss right, but another part of her enjoyed being looked up to in such a way. Maybe it was Sith psychology at work.

"I'm sure what Thriss means," Dalen said wryly, "is that you look as hale and healthy as ever, Summers."

"I don't look pale? My skin isn't shriveling and clammy, is it?"

"Not at all," Thriss said delightedly. "Your skin is its same shade of brownish pink, and it looks just as smooth as ever."

Buffy laughed out loud at Thriss's chosen metonym of 'tan.' "Thank you, Thriss."

"My pleasure, Lord Summers," the Chiss cooed seductively.

"Please, Thriss," Dalen said impatiently. "Hold your libido in check for a short while. We must contact Dromund Kaas and report to Darth Arctis, and I believe we should keep your existence a secret. You should wait in your quarters quietly."

"I thought that the Dark Council was already aware of me," Thriss said. "Was it not my effect on the ruin that brought you to me in the first place?"

"It was," Dalen acknowledged. "However, we were told that you were not all that strong in the Force, which was clearly either a mistaken assumption or else willful ignorance of your clear potential."

"I will strive to prove them all wrong."

"Good," Buffy said. "For now, though, please skedaddle. We don't want to give you away to Darth Arctis. He is one nasty bastard."

Thriss arched a curious eyebrow when Buffy said 'skedaddle,' but she did not object and silently went off to her berth on the _Bronze_.

Dalen was inputting commands into the holoprojector when Buffy walked up to him. "Do you think Thriss's lust is going to be a problem?"

"On the contrary," Dalen said. "I think it could be a great advantage. She has a great deal of passion. Entice her further and then teach her how to channel that passion into all of her pursuits. She has the makings of a great Sith if she can learn to make her feelings work for her. Ah, here we are."

The holoprojector hummed as the translucent blue visage of Darth Arctis flickered into being. "Ah, Lord Dalen. Your timing is impeccable. Do update me on your trip to Csilla."

"Yes, my Lord," Dalen said deferentially. "The ruin did not simply open at the mere touch of a Force-user, but it did respond excellently to a raw display of the power of the Dark Side. By channeling the passions of my apprentice and myself, I was able to muster a howl that put quite a scare into the Chiss archaeological team. The ruin, however, revealed its secrets to me."

"This is excellent news," Arctis said, and he did seem quite impressed. Buffy couldn't help but notice that Dalen claimed her display of power as his own, but she admired the move as a tactic of misdirection. "You have done well, Lord Dalen. Now tell me what you found inside."

Dalen cleared his throat. "There was another door, my Lord, but it appeared to be more decorative, or else it served as a form of symbolism I'm not familiar with. It opened with a tug of the Force upon it. Inside, we found a droid that provided us with a map along with a set of instructions."

"What sort of instructions did this droid have for you? Who or what was its master?"

"It claimed that the 'Builders' of an 'Infinite Empire' wanted us to carry out their will, which was to find and activate something it called the 'Purge Engine.'"

"`The' Purge Engine?" Arctis asked. "Not 'A' Purge Engine?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Remarkable. There are whispers in the archaeological community about an 'Infinite Empire' that supposedly predates the existence of both Jedi and Sith. Rumors in the upper echelons of the Empire also say that the Emperor has personal knowledge of such a faction, but I wouldn't dare trouble him until I have more proof, and perhaps not even then. Did the map reveal a path to follow? Did it tell you where the Purge Engine is?"

"Yes, it did show us a path, but I couldn't say whether this is the location of the Purge Engine or if it is merely another step in the journey. We also don't know what the Purge Engine is, but I would hazard a guess that it is a weapon of some sort. More than that, I would not care to speculate."

"All very reasonable," Arctis pondered. "Where does this map point to?"

"Tatooine, my Lord. It's a desert world in the Outer Rim with little to recommend it. There is an Imperial presence there, I believe, but it is a minor commitment of our forces."

"Then you should have minimal interference with finding whatever is down there. Proceed to Tatooine immediately, Lord Dalen. Before you depart, however, did you meet the Force-sensitive Chiss on Csilla?"

"I did, my Lord," Dalen said without blinking. "She seemed quite competent and able, and her research and findings gave us a solid lead towards opening the ruin."

Arctis waved a dismissive hand. "Menial workers are of no concern to me. I was told that her attunement to the Force was weak, but I wanted your direct insights, Lord Dalen."

Dalen cleared his throat again. "Excavator Mitth'ris'sintar definitely stood out among the throngs of mundane Chiss on the planet, but I doubt she would last long in even the preliminary stages of training prior to arriving on Korriban for the trials."

"I see," Arctis said thoughtfully. "It is probable that no more Chiss will ascend to the ranks of the Sith. It would have been good to solidify relations with the Ascendancy, but things are solid enough as they are that it should not be a problem. No matter. Set a course to Tatooine and take all necessary measures to uncover the secrets of the Purge Engine."

The communication cut out abruptly.

"You can come out now, Thriss," Buffy called down the corridor.

"I can see why you kept my abilities a secret," Thriss said as she emerged from her quarters. "Darth Arctis clearly sought to use me as a tool to manipulate my people."

"Perhaps," Dalen said cautiously. "Whatever his thoughts, better that he underestimate you and focus his attention elsewhere. If we are to make way, then I suggest, Thriss, that you ready yourself for a climate opposite to that of Csilla."

"I've never been offworld before," Thriss said. "I have only heard of deserts of ice. This is a different kind of desert?"

"The hot kind," Dalen said as he moved to the cockpit. "Tatooine is a world of sand and stone with two suns beating down upon it."

"Think of it as a chance to expand your archaeological horizons," Buffy said. "Maybe we should get you a fedora and a bullwhip while we're at it."

Thriss scowled quietly.

* * *

Buffy pulled her newly-bought brown robe around her chest, hoping to hide her lightsaber from view. Against her better judgment, she had agreed with Dalen and Thriss to land in the distinctly non-Imperial port of Anchorhead. While the Republic didn't have any official presence there, enough people from the Republic passed through. Mostly, the city was a haven for offworld criminals looking to escape justice, or else pilots looking to smuggle people and cargo to wherever they needed to go.

The sticking point that got Buffy to agree to Anchorhead instead of the Empire-controlled port of Mos Ila was that the latter had been built by a native species, only to be driven out by the Empire. Given the barren nature of Tatooine, it made more sense to trust someone who traveled the dunes and the wastes regularly rather than an offworlder who cared nothing for the planet, and the natives were less likely to be accommodating to Sith from Mos Ila.

Dalen and Thriss wore similar robes to the one that Buffy had just put on, although Thriss was wearing hers under mild duress. The outdoor market where they had bought the garments was far warmer than anything the Chiss archaeologist was accustomed to, but to her credit, she offered up only minimal complaint.

The robe merchant had been kind enough – after a small donation of credits – to recommend a nearby native merchant to them. A clan of Jawas had parked something called a 'sandcrawler' just outside the settlement. The Jawas themselves had been described as 'yappy little rodents,' but Buffy was more worried about the sandcrawler. It sounded like some gigantic insect demon that preyed on yappy little rodents that lived in the desert rather than a domesticated mount.

Buffy's concern had been met with a knowing smirk from Dalen, so she assumed that there was some nasty surprise in store for her. She was so glad that she didn't have to even pretend to suck up to him anymore. Shar Dalen was a good man, but he had an evil sense of humor.

Anchorhead might have been the largest settlement on Tatooine, but it was still tiny compared to most cities. The place was more like a town than a proper city, and not a big town either. The walk to the Jawa camp was not a long one.

Buffy sensed a group of beings up ahead that she had a feeling were the Jawas: They were short beings that were probably humanoid, but under their brown hooded cloaks were pairs of glowing yellow eyes against a black face. They looked to have little black, furry hands. Their language certainly sounded 'yappy' to Buffy's ear.

"Are you expecting trouble, Lord Summers?" Thriss asked.

Buffy kept looking around for the sandcrawler to reveal itself, but she couldn't sense anything. "Maybe," she said idly.

The Jawas had a number of small booths with scrap metal on display. They were presumably non-violent merchants who spent their lives scavenging in the deserts for anything that might be useful to someone else. For a brief moment while not worrying about a giant insect-like demon, Buffy wondered how the tiny Jawas managed to prosper in this unforgiving climate.

"There are a great many machines built in the image of sentient beings," Thriss observed as they passed a Jawa peddling droids.

"Now that I think about it," Dalen said, "I don't recall seeing any droids on Csilla outside of the ruin."

"I have heard you both use that word," Thriss said. "What does it mean?"

"A droid is a mechanical servant," Buffy explained. "A machine with at least a little intelligence meant to do a job that its builders can't or don't want to do."

"A curious concept," Thriss noted. "It seems flawed and vulnerable to cyber-warfare. How numerous are droids in the Empire?"

"They exist nearly everywhere in some capacity," Dalen explained. "Sometimes, in both the Empire and the Republic, people will use mass-produced droids as an armed force. These are usually built with several countermeasures to prevent slicing. While they are generally less efficient than a trained soldier, they can go into battle in climates where organic beings cannot, and they can fight without risking a single life."

"Fascinating," Thriss said breathlessly. "The galaxy outside of the Ascendancy has much to teach the Chiss, it seems. It is a shame that more of my kind do not venture outside of our borders."

"Here we are," Dalen said. They'd been directed to the second-to-last Jawa in the row of kiosks they were walking down.

There was a small table with gemstones and crystals and stone tablets that Buffy couldn't make head or tail of.

The diminutive cloaked being came around to meet them and began gesticulating with its tiny arms as it began jabbering at them in its yappy dialect.

"I'm so sorry," Dalen said politely. "Do you speak Basic?"

The Jawa sagged its shoulders for a moment before turning around and shouting, "Utinni!"

A dull gray protocol droid walked over to the stand from a large rust-red building that looked like it had been placed on giant treads.

"Ah, yes! I am here, Master," the droid said in Basic.

The Jawa didn't seem to care that the droid wasn't speaking its Master's language. Turning to the three Sith, the Jawa yapped a series of words that Buffy could hardly keep up with, let alone understand.

The droid turned to look at the three Force-users. "My Master, Siket, bids you greetings and welcomes you to his market. He wonders if you would like to hear about the bargains he has to offer, or if you had something more specific in mind."

Buffy looked to Dalen and gave him a nod of her head. She didn't want to wound his pride any further by taking the lead in fields she was ignorant of. After she and her friends back on Earth had reorganized the Watcher's Council, they had set up a branch to handle the acquisition of artifacts and relics, but Buffy had been more concerned with slaying than with bargaining.

Dalen stepped forward and looked directly at the Jawa instead of the droid. "It is a pleasure to view your market, Mister Siket. I am Shar Dalen, and these are my companions, Buffy Summers and Thriss. We have heard tell of a long-buried ruin here on Tatooine, and we are hoping you might have knowledge of its location."

The droid didn't translate Dalen's words, so Buffy assumed that the Jawa understood Basic even if he couldn't speak it himself. Siket threw up his arms and jabbered away in what might have been an angry tone.

"My Master understands that you are not aware of Jawa ways, but he insists that you do not attempt to move in on any territory that would be of value to my Master or his clan," the droid translated.

"I promise you, Mister Siket," Dalen said, "that I meant no disrespect, and that I have no intention of taking what rightfully belongs to you or any other of the Jawa clans. We believe that there is knowledge within this ruin that shares its origin with a ruin we found on another world. Thriss, the pad, please?"

Thriss fished a datapad out of her robe that Buffy knew held a record of her findings of the ruin on Csilla and handed it to Dalen.

The Sith Lord tapped a few buttons and brought up the symbol that had been on the double doors of the Csillan ruin. He showed the elongated diamond-like shape to the Jawa. "The ruin we seek would likely have this symbol etched upon its doors."

Siket looked closely at the picture before recoiling with another cry of "Utinni!" This was followed by more rapid jabbering.

"Master Siket says," the droid translated, "that he recognizes the place you speak of, but that he fears to go there. It is a dark place that he only recognizes because other clans have told him to avoid it. He asks to know what you hope to find there."

"We would be willing to share what we hope to find there. We have some idea based on the other ruin that led us here." Buffy tapped the picture on the pad. "However, that exchange would be part of the overall bargain."

Siket let out a brief cry before jabbering some more.

"My Master compliments you on your business acumen, Miss Summers," the droid translated. "Master Siket is willing to barter the location of the ruin under the condition that you do not ask him or any of his clan to take you there."

"Perhaps," Thriss said carefully, "an arrangement could be reached to guide us part of the way and set us on a path from there?"

Siket looked at Thriss and seemed to be studying her. Buffy guessed that he had never seen a Chiss before.

After another bout of jabbering, the droid said, "My Master agrees that this is an acceptable arrangement, provided that you bargain accordingly."

A harsh beeping sound alerted the group to the approach of a blue and brown astromech droid wheeling towards the kiosk on its three feet.

Siket turned to the droid and tried to shoo it away, but the astromech droid kept beeping in what Buffy had to assume was a language of some sort.

After a brief back-and-forth between the droid and the Jawa, Siket turned to Dalen and began yapping at him sharply.

"My Master says that he has been alerted by another of his clan that you are not who you claim to be, and that he should not trust you," the protocol droid said.

"What?!" Buffy shouted. This was beyond stupid. "Either you're trying to pull a fast one on us, or some stranger is trying to pick a fight where he doesn't know anything. We haven't lied about anything to you!"

Siket jabbered again, and the droid said, "I do apologize, but the claimant is a valued patron of my Master's clan, and he claims to know who you truly are."

Dalen shook his head calmly, but Buffy sensed his rage building. "None of us has ever visited Tatooine before today, Mister Siket. This man cannot possibly have any knowledge of us if he is indeed a longtime resident of these parts. Who does he believe we are? And who does he say we are pretending to be?"

Siket barked an order of some sort at the astromech droid, and after another bout of beeping, Siket spoke again to Dalen.

"My Master says that the venerable Jedi Master Roland Skoan believes you to be Sith Lords passing yourselves off as Jedi Knights."

Dalen breathed what Buffy guessed was a sigh of relief. "Then Master Skoan's claim is only partially true. We never pretended to be Jedi Knights, but I am a Lord of the Sith. Buffy Summers and Thriss are my apprentices, and I can assure you that we have only come to trade for the location of this ruin, just as we have said."

Siket threw up his hands again and began jabbering very quickly and excitedly.

"My Master says," the protocol droid translated, "that Sith usually land in the neighboring settlement of Mos Ila, which the Empire wrongfully stole from the Jawa Clans. He asks: Why have you come to Anchorhead instead of dealing with your own kind?"

Buffy stepped forward before Dalen could answer. "We came here because while we are from the Empire, we don't always agree with everything our fellow Sith do. I don't know how Jawa clans work, but one clan isn't held responsible if another clan does something wrong, is it? Each Sith is responsible for his or her own actions, and we haven't visited Tatooine at all before today. We came to Anchorhead because it was common sense to negotiate with you, who know this land, rather than to rely on outsiders who don't know anything about Tatooine."

"Don't listen to her!"

Buffy, Dalen, and Thriss all turned to their left and saw a middle-aged human man with a light-brown beard approaching. He was dressed in the plain brown-and-white robes that were typical of Jedi Knights, and Buffy thought she saw a lightsaber under his outer robe. She thought he might be bald, but it was impossible to tell with his hood up.

Buffy had never met a Jedi before, and was unsure of what to think. If this was a Jedi Master, she didn't want to press her luck in a fight against him.

"My friend, Siket," the Jedi said, "this man and these women are Sith. They model their lives around deception and cruelty. I warn you that whatever they say they want, they will take more from you than you can ever hope to regain if you let them."

"These women and this man are standing right here," Buffy said angrily. "You really do have a pair, you know that? You've never seen us before, you don't know us. I didn't think Jedi picked fights where there didn't need to be any."

Siket jabbered at the group hastily.

"Master Siket pleads that you do not make a violent scene in front of his establishment," the protocol droid said urgently.

"Surely you can't be thinking of dealing with them?" the Jedi said. "Surely you remember that Mos Ila was once a Jawa settlement before the Empire took it from you."

Siket turned to the Jedi and waved a hand at him and yapped at him loudly.

"Master Siket reminds you, Master Skoan, that while you are a friend of the Tkon Clan, that does not give you the right to insult a clansman by challenging his knowledge of his own history."

"I beg your pardon, Siket," Roland Skoan said softly, "but the evil of the Sith knows no bounds!"

"You are a peculiar sort," Thriss observed.

Skoan wheeled around to look at Thriss properly for the first time, and his eyes widened. "You're not a Red Sith or a human," he said with confusion.

"That fact has not escaped my notice," Thriss said dryly. "From all that I have heard from non-Imperial sources, the Jedi Order is devoted to peace, compromise, and the pursuit of knowledge. Yet here you stand, seeking out conflict rather than attempting to resolve or avoid it. It is most strange, unless the Jedi are more arrogant and aggressive than I have been led to believe."

"And besides," Buffy said, "we came here to trade with Siket, not to hurt him or any of his kind. If we were as vicious as you seem to think we are, we would have taken what we wanted by force. We're just talking here, in case your great Jedi insights aren't working."

"What about you?" Skoan asked of Dalen. "Are you just going to stand there silently? You're not going to even try to obfuscate the truth?"

"I have no need to obfuscate anything," Dalen said smoothly. "My apprentices and I were merely conducting polite business before your interruption. Master Siket, I do apologize for neglecting to mention our affiliation at the outset. I confess that I saw no need to mention it, and that was short-sighted of me. I would, however, request that we resume our business without Master Skoan's interference."

Siket said something quietly and more slowly than was typical for him. Buffy guessed he was giving his words careful thought.

"My Master admits that his guests have behaved with the utmost respect and diplomacy, and have given no indications that they seek anything other than what they claim. He respectfully asks you, Master Skoan, to leave him to his business."

"This is all wrong!" Skoan shrieked as he held his head with both hands. "I lost so many friends and two Masters to the Sith! I came here to seek enlightenment and calm away from the ravages of war. I will not stand idly by while you ruin the lives of more innocents!"

Buffy was about to protest, but before she could speak, Roland Skoan extended both hands and summoned a lightsaber to each of them. Twin blades of green light ignited, and the Jedi Master lunged at the trio of Sith.

Buffy and Dalen had their lightsabers out just in time to each block a blow from one of Skoan's lightsabers. Buffy felt Thriss retreat to a safe distance out of the range of the melee.

"Your apprentice is smart to avoid this fight," Skoan said almost tauntingly. "She would live a far better life as a Jedi than you can ever give her as a Sith," he snarled before striking again with both blades.

Dalen and Buffy retreated against the Jedi's onslaught, tuning out the protestations of the Jawas as they hastened to clean up their market stalls.

"The Dark Side," Skoan said as he struck, "is only a shadow cast by the Light. You cannot win!"

"So you created us, huh?" Buffy mocked as she ducked under the Jedi's slash. "Gotta say, that doesn't sound all that smart to me," she said as she rolled under another strike and came up behind Skoan.

The Jedi pivoted on his feet and tried to get both Sith on one side of him again, but Buffy and Dalen disengaged on opposite sides of Skoan.

"You're outnumbered, Jedi," Dalen taunted. "Engage one of us and leave yourself open to the other."

Skoan chuckled. "I am not some green young Padawan, Sith! I am a Master of the Force, and you will not win this day!"

With a yank of his arm, Skoan pulled Dalen into the air with the Force and leaped at Buffy while her former Master disappeared into a back row of Jawa stalls.

Buffy brought up her red blade and parried Skoan's strikes as she tried to find an opening to attack him. The Jedi was all offense, and any opening he gave her was immediately closed by another incoming blow that Buffy had to block or parry.

"You have no chance, Sith!" Skoan yelled as he struck at Buffy again. "Surrender now and live."

"Hm, I've had bad guys feed me that line before," Buffy quipped. "It was never true then, and I doubt you're any different."

"I am _not_ the villain here!" Skoan brought his lightsabers together as if to cut Buffy in half with a pair of scissors.

Buffy leaped over Skoan's head and kicked him in the butt on her way down, somersaulting to her feet as she hit the dirt.

Skoan wheeled about to face Buffy again, his face a mask of snarling rage.

"You sure you're not the bad guy?" Buffy asked sarcastically. "From where I'm standing, you've got a pretty big holier-than-thou complex, and those usually end in tears."

"Don't you dare mock me, Sith!" Skoan shouted as he raised his right arm.

Buffy wondered what he hoped to do at the distance between them, only to have to put up her guard as he tossed one green blade at her. It spun around like a boomerang aiming for her head.

A flash of blue light struck the hilt of the lightsaber in midair, and it fell to the ground in a molten heap.

"It's over, Jedi," Buffy said, holding her blade in a defensive position just in case. "If you press the attack, you're gonna end up dead. You can't fight both me and my apprentice."

"Your apprentice?!" Skoan asked with a harsh laugh. "You travel with your Master and your apprentice, do you? You must be so caught up in all your deceptions that you can't think straight."

Buffy pretended to ponder the notion for a moment. "Nope. Still thinking straight. We've got you beat, so don't push this and throw your life away."

"You're the one who has thrown her life away! The moment you cast your lot with the Sith, your fate was sealed!"

Skoan started to run at Buffy before stopping and bringing up his lightsaber casually in what Buffy guessed was a gesture to deflect Thriss's charric bolt.

The blue blast passed through Skoan's green blade and hit him in the chest. He fell to the ground and dropped his remaining lightsaber. The green blade disengaged as the hilt landed on the ground a few meters away from its owner.

Buffy followed the path of the blast to a nearby building. Buffy sensed Thriss's presence on the rooftop and waved in her general direction.

A moment later, Buffy felt a reciprocated gesture of emotion in the Force.

Turning off her lightsaber, Buffy tucked it into her robes and sought out Dalen. There was a cluster of Jawas surrounding him, and what looked like a medical droid was tending to him.

"Buffy!" he gasped. "Thank the Emperor! I would have rejoined you, but I believe I broke an arm in the fall. I would have been a burden rather than an aid."

"Don't apologize, Shar," Buffy said. A swell of happiness and relief filled her to see her friend alive and well, if a bit rough around the edges. "You should thank Thriss. The Jedi probably didn't know that his lightsaber wouldn't work against Chiss weapons."

A Jawa began speaking to Buffy, and she sensed that it was Siket.

A different protocol droid was there to translate. "My Master apologizes on behalf of the Tkon Clan for the attack you suffered at the hands of one he called friend. By attacking a legitimate trader without provocation, Jedi Master Skoan has forfeited all standing with the Tkon Clan, and as compensation, you will be given guidance to the ruin you seek free of charge."

Buffy was caught off guard, but she recovered quickly. "Thank you, Master Siket. We greatly appreciate your generosity, and we promise to cooperate fully with you and the Tkon Clan in any way you want while we seek out the ruin."

Siket spoke at some length to Buffy, and the droid translated. "Master Siket expresses his gratitude for your cooperation, and humbly asks what will become of Jedi Master Skoan. By the customs of the Tkon Clan, his fate is in your hands."

Dalen got to his feet at that. "Then I suppose we should finish that loose end before we continue our bargaining any further, Master Siket."

The Jawa merchant yapped something, and the droid translated, "My Master will wait for your return."

"Very well, then. Come, Summers. Let's finish this," Dalen said as he got to his feet and strode quickly towards the site of the melee.

Buffy followed after Dalen, unsure if she was comfortable with ending a man's life after he'd been defeated already.

Thriss was waiting by Skoan's prone body with her charric trained on him. "I am glad to see you both," she said. "Are you injured, Lord Dalen?"

"It's nothing that won't easily recover," he assured her. "How is he?"

"He is defiant and stubborn and arrogant," Thriss said with obvious disgust. "He has made it clear that I have doomed myself by casting my lot in with you. He is obviously a zealot with no regard for the hypocrisy of his actions."

"A typical Jedi, then," Dalen mused. "Most Jedi I've fought have had no compunctions about surrendering to their darker emotions in the heat of battle against a Sith. Granted, this is only my third fight against a full-fledged Jedi Knight, and my first against a Master. Most of my experience comes from fighting fellow Sith, or else captured Padawans."

Skoan barked out a wheezing cough from the ground. "You'll never win, Sith!" he spat angrily. "The Dark Side brings death wherever it goes! It will consume you all in the end!"

Buffy looked down at the injured Jedi and felt a hot wave of rage flow through her. This man had the audacity to tell her how evil she was, how her passions would be her undoing, and here was the Jedi, undone by his own blind hatred.

It made her sick.

"You will never defeat the Light!" Skoan spat. "I will never let the Sith win!"

The Jedi's arrogance was too much for Buffy to handle any longer, and she had her red blade ignited a second later.

"Too bad, buster. You just did."

A moment later, Jedi Master Roland Skoan was dead from a terminal case of severed head.

Buffy took a deep breath and disengaged her lightsaber. "That felt good."

"It felt good to shoot him as well," Thriss said. "It feels even better in hindsight."

"You have done very well, Lord Summers," Dalen said slowly, emphasizing her title.

Buffy shrugged. "I did what had to be done."

"More than that," Dalen said. "For someone with as little lightsaber experience as you, defeating a Jedi Master is no small feat."

"We all defeated him," Buffy said. "I don't think any one of us could have taken him alone. But we did it together."

"Another argument in favor of cooperation over competition," Thriss noted.

Dalen shook his head. "We can save the philosophical debate for another time. Right now, we need to arrange a trip to the ruin. We'll likely be taking the Jawas' sandcrawler, and I have questions about the temperature inside of it."

"Inside?!" Buffy shivered. "We're going to be traveling inside of a giant desert bug demon?"

"Of course not, Summers," Dalen said with a smirk as he pointed to the large rust-red building on its giant treads. "What did you think that was if not a sandcrawler?"

Buffy stared at the vehicle for a moment before smacking Dalen on the arm.

He winced in pain. "My arm is already broken, Summers. Do you truly wish to prevent it from healing?"

"Jerk me around like that again, and your arm will be the least of your problems," Buffy warned.

"Do not be discouraged, Lord Dalen," Thriss said seriously. "I believe Lord Summers is jesting with you."

"I am shocked that you would say such a thing, Thriss," Buffy said with mock-horror. "I never jest!"

Dalen hung his head and muttered under his breath about the strangeness of his former apprentice.


	20. Faith IX - The Smuggler's Moon

**Faith IX - The Smuggler's Moon**

* * *

"Damn! And I thought Vegas had too much neon."

Faith looked around from the taxi pad at the cityscape of the so-called 'Smuggler's Moon,' - Nar Shaddaa - and tried to process the notion of Sin City on a planetary scale. A part of her wanted to smack the collective Jedi Order around for their monastic ways and teachings. If she had learned the ins and outs of gambling in this galaxy, Faith was confident that she would have been able to enjoy herself on this moon and become very wealthy very quickly.

"I don't know what Vegas is," Ralto said, "but the sight is a rather sore one, isn't it?"

"There are cities like this back home," Tal said. "They don't quite hit this level of vice."

"Where's home for you?" Faith asked the Major.

"Corellia," he answered. "It was a nice place until the Empire moved in. Now, it's a warzone."

"Another giant city-world?" Faith asked.

"Sort of," Tal said. "Long ago, the government decided not to go quite the path of Coruscant and made an effort to preserve some of the planet's natural beauty. We still make some of the best starships in the galaxy, but we like to have parks to relax in when we're on break."

"We'll take it back, Tal," Vira said. "Just like we'll take back Balmorra."

"Damn straight we'll take it back!" Tal agreed.

Faith stepped ahead, trying to get out of hearing range of the two soldiers. With both the Force and her Slayer senses, however, it was no use. She didn't begrudge them their urge to take back their homes, but despite never having settled down anywhere, Faith was feeling homesick. She'd been a wanderer, but she'd never pictured wandering away from her entire planet.

The prospect of finding Earth again was a slim one, but Faith held onto a small sliver of hope. She had once thought that optimists were just fools who were kidding themselves, and maybe Faith was one of those people now. Even if she did feel like a homesick child at times, she'd be damned if she let such thoughts make her an invalid.

"All right," Faith sad. "Enough with the good old days. Let's find this ruin and get the hell outta here."

"That won't be so simple, Faith," Ralto said carefully as he walked up to her. "Even if we knew where on the moon the ruin is located, we'd still have to get down to it and back up here again. It's highly unlikely we'll find anyone who knows where to look."

"The Hutts will know," Tal said grimly. "One of the major crime lords will, most likely. Finding out which Hutt to talk is probably our first step. Getting a Hutt to give away a secret like that…" The major shook his head and shifted about in place. "I don't know about this."

"Hutts are easy to predict if you know how," Vira said. "Spent a few weeks here before I got transferred to your squad, Tal. We were trying to convince the Cartel to break its neutrality and join the Republic. When they tried to barter with my CO to put me to work as a dancing girl, we decided that was a good time to leave."

Faith grinned. "So, Hutts are attracted to the female body, are they?"

"Who knows what Hutts think?" Tal snorted. "I'd put money on dancing girls being there to grease up their clients. Then again, putting money on anything here is probably not such a good idea."

"Over here," Vira said as she gestured towards an open-air market. "This is a Hutt."

Faith followed the Lieutenant over to a giant golden statue of a blob wearing a silly-looking hat.

"Behold!" Vira mocked. "His Magnificence, Karagga the Hutt. Leader of the Hutt Cartel, sometimes called 'Karagga the Unyielding.'"

Up until now, Faith had had a vague mental image of a Hutt being some sort of human-like being wearing flashing neon lights and golden chains. The statue in front of her showed an entirely different image: This Hutt was nothing more than a giant, golden slug with two bulbous eyes and an overlarge mouth.

"They aren't that big in reality," Vira said. "Shrink this down so that maybe Tal's head comes up to somewhere around the Hutt's non-existent shoulders. And they aren't made out of solid gold no matter what they believe about themselves."

"Don't forget the slime and the stink," Tal added as he joined the two women. "As bad as Nar Shaddaa is, the planet it orbits is supposedly worse. They practically bathe in toxic sludge down on Nal Hutta and call it a paradise."

"Yes, the Hutts are not the most aesthetically pleasing of species," Ralto commented. "We might as well check in with the Republic ambassador here and see if he or she can aid us in any capacity. Such a representative will likely have access to key members of the Hutt Cartel, which is likely going to string along both Republic and Empire with promises of aid in exchange for economic boons. It is highly unlikely that the Hutts will break their neutrality."

"They don't have to join the Republic," Faith said shortly. "All we need is to find this ruin. Let's do this."

* * *

A quick visit to an information kiosk – along with a fifty-credit fee – directed Faith and her companions to the upper level of the Promenade, where they hoped to find the Republic Ambassador to Nar Shaddaa. The droid at the kiosk had also provided them – for another thirty credits each – earpiece translators so that they would be able to understand the many denizens of the moon who spoke Huttese instead of Basic.

Faith let Master Ralto lead the way to the office. He was the senior Jedi of the two of them, and the Nautolan knew how to talk to people without rubbing them the wrong way. She wasn't entirely sure if he had what it would take to deal with a Hutt. From what Faith had heard, Hutts thought of themselves as supreme, and what a human would call insincere flattery was considered proper respect due to a Hutt.

A clerk bowed respectfully and admitted the group to Ambassador Averdon's office. Ralto politely thanked the clerk and led Faith and the two soldiers into a spacious chamber with a desk in the center of the room. Standing over it was a grey-haired human who had to be Ambassador Averdon.

Looming over the Ambassador was something that screamed 'demon' to Faith's more arcane senses. Her eyes and nose told her that the thing was little more than a gigantic turd. Then it blinked and took a breath, and Faith realized that the enormous, stench-producing blob was in fact a Hutt.

"Master Jedi," the human man said politely. "Welcome to Nar Shaddaa. I'm Ambassador Averdon, and this is Bareesh Fenn'ak Torill. He's been one of our most valuable allies on Nar Shaddaa."

"Ambassador Averdon, Mr. Bareesh, it is an honor to make your acquaintance. I am Jedi Master Ralto Nalarn, at your service."

"Please, simply call me 'Bareesh.' Human terms of gender hold no meaning for Hutts," the blob said in a booming voice that Faith's earpiece translated into Basic.

Ralto nodded courteously. "As you wish, Bareesh. If I might get straight to business, the Republic and the Jedi Order are seeking an ancient ruin that we believe to be somewhere here on Nar Shaddaa. We would like your help in finding it."

"I'm afraid the geography of the moon is not my area of expertise," Averdon said apologetically.

"Information is always available for the right price," Bareesh said ominously. "Knowledge has always been the most valuable commodity for sale in the history of the Hutts. To show my good will to the Republic, I will aid you in whatever way I can, unless your search endangers Hutt enterprises."

"You honor me with your graciousness, Bareesh," Ralto said, and Faith noticed he slipped into a bow to add to the proper amount of lavish 'respect' to the Hutt. "Alas, the ruin we are seeking predates your people's known presence on Nar Shaddaa. We believe that this place will be located somewhere near or on the surface. Do records of such architecture still exist?"

"The surface?!" Averdon exclaimed. "Master Jedi, I must press upon you the dangers you face if you attempt to venture so far down into the bowels of Nar Shaddaa."

Ralto turned his head to face the Ambassador. "I appreciate your concern, but we are all aware of the risks involved. The Jedi believe, however, that it is crucial to the safety of the galaxy that we find that ruin."

Bareesh waved a tiny arm in what might have been a dismissive gesture. "The Republic likes to inflate all of its needs as vital to the safety of the galaxy. What makes this thing you seek any different?"

Faith sensed that Ralto was not quite sure how to respond to the Hutt's question, and he was shifting on his feet almost imperceptibly.

"What do you know about the Jedi, Bareesh?" Faith asked. "What's your general impression of them?"

Bareesh shifted his massive body to look at Faith. "The Jedi are renowned as warriors without equal," the Hutt said. "They are reflective and pacifistic, but are quick to take up arms when they feel something in the air that others are blind to, save for the Sith. They do nothing without reason."

"Damn straight," Faith said. "Everything the Jedi do has a reason to it. They like to think before they act, and they don't like to give out straight answers when a cryptic one will do. What we're looking for here: It predates the Jedi. It's old and powerful and dangerous. We found something like it on Taris, and that led us here. I've dealt with old things before, and a good rule is that the older something is, the more powerful it is. We're here, and we're offering to deal with what could be a serious disruption in your nice, comfy lives up here. Point us towards it, and we'll take care of it so that you can keep on living the Hutt high life. Besides, if you help us, I'm sure the Republic would find some way to show its gratitude."

Bareesh narrowed his giant, bulbous eyes before erupting into laughter. It was a booming 'ho-ho-ho' sound that reminded Faith of a demonic Santa Claus. A moment of thought reminded her that Santa Claus actually was real, and a demon to boot.

"You are a most unusual Jedi," Bareesh said with what might have been amusement. "You are bold and daring. I like you, Jedi."

"The name's Faith," she said with a smirk.

Bareesh laughed some more. "Well, Jedi Faith, if it is information you seek, then the Chronicle will hold the answer. It is a computer that holds the collective history and knowledge of Nar Shaddaa. Getting access to it, however, will be your challenge."

Faith wasn't buying it. "So, any old Hutt can go to this computer and learn anything he wants about any other Hutt? Doesn't seem all that smart to me."

Bareesh waved a dismissive hand. "The Cartel regulates what is permitted into the Chronicle. Personal and financial information for the Hutt Clans is protected and not accessible. Other organizations with enough influence can petition the Cartel to keep their secrets out of the Chronicle as well. Your Republic and the Empire both pay well to keep their operations out of sight."

Ralto chose this moment to step back in. "Could you not allow us access to this Chronicle, Bareesh?"

"I cannot," the Hutt said. "It is not under my domain, but that of the entire Hutt Cartel. In theory, anyone may ask anything of the Chronicle. In practice, each question asked of it is a costly endeavor."

"We have credits," Ralto offered.

Bareesh just rumbled a sound that had no Basic translation. "The Chronicle has always required a special brand of currency. In the past, the payment has been slaves or else exotic goods and services that are no longer relevant. The nature of the payment has varied over the years, but it has always been favorable to Hutts. The Chronicle currently accepts a more generic currency."

Ralto nodded patiently. "Tell us what we must do, and we will strive to make it happen."

* * *

"This is fucking ridiculous!"

"I hear you, Faith," Vira agreed. "The scheme reeks of Hutt, all right."

Tal swore as they walked along the Promenade. "Who do they think they're kidding? It's not a currency if you can't exchange it for credits. Ridiculous."

Ralto sighed patiently and tried to keep up with the angry strides of his fellows. "I wish it were not the case, but it seems that if we want to gain access to this Chronicle, we will need to obtain some-"

"Fake money," Faith spat. "Since when does anyone pay real money just to get this 'special' money?" She snorted. "Do they think we're stupid?"

"No, but we are desperate," Tal said gently.

"It is a most unfair system, we all agree," Ralto said calmly. "The reality, however, is that if we want to proceed further, we will need to procure some of these 'Cartel Coins.'"

"Fake money," Faith corrected.

"Yeah, well, there's gotta be somebody who'll pay fake money for something," Vira said. "These are Hutts: Their survival instinct is money-based. We just need one who is willing to cough up the stuff for a job or something."

"Maybe the information kiosk will have something," Tal said.

"Maybe," Faith agreed, pulling out her credit chit. "Here, this one's on me."

The droid at the kiosk – after being paid a fifty credit fee – accessed a list of all Hutt Cartel job listings on Nar Shaddaa that paid Cartel Coins. Ralto sprung for the ten credit fee to have the information downloaded onto a datapad that they could take with them.

"So, how much of this fake money do we need again?" Tal asked.

"We need 330 coins for one question," Vira said. "Why they had to go with such an odd number, I don't know."

"It is probably the Hutts attempting to keep such services exclusive to themselves by making the process too frustrating for other species," Ralto reasoned.

"Hello!" Faith said with a smirk. "Lookie here! I think I found the answer to our problem."

Ralto took the pad from Faith and read the part she had highlighted. "You can't be serious, Faith!"

"Sure, I can," the Slayer countered. "I fit the criteria, and this Hutt only needs me for the one day, and it pays… How much does it pay again?"

Vira snagged the pad from Ralto. "It pays 1040 Cartel-"

Faith cleared her throat and smirked.

Vira's smile matched Faith's. "It pays 1040 fake credits."

Tal shook his head. "Why can't you just call it what it is?"

"We are," Faith said. "As for why you're gonna put up with it, it's because you like us so much."

Major Cortland snorted. "Right. So, let me see that pad. What're you up to, Faith?"

Ralto sighed and handed Tal the datapad.

Taking the pad, Tal read over the highlighted section. "Well, that would be simple if it works. But Hutts are sneaky, and there's probably something they're not advertising."

"Probably," Faith admitted. "But it's an opportunity, and I don't want to waste it. Now, you can help me out, or you can get out of my way, but you're not going to stop me."

"Leave it alone, both of you," Vira warned. "I know that look. Faith's wearing her 'I've made up my mind no matter what' look, and nothing you do is going to sway her."

Faith chuckled. "Heh. I've got my own resolve face now. Awesome! I'm gonna need to do a bit of shopping before I go and apply for the job. Meet you by the big golden statue in half an hour?"

Ralto looked like he might protest, but just hung his head and waved Faith away.

Faith smiled and took off towards the nearby cantina, stopping only to laugh when she heard Vira start to throw a fit once the red-haired soldier saw what Faith had in mind.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Dral Trord, Majordomo to His Magnificence, Kalubo the Hutt, was feeling quite enormously grateful towards the brown-haired human girl who had come to him looking for work. Dral had been looking for quite awhile to find suitable entertainment for his Master, lest Kalubo decide that the poor Nikto would make a better spectacle.

Kalubo was wealthy, and he loved to display his wealth to all who would come to see it. Being a logic-driven Nikto, Dral did not understand the ways of Hutts, but he knew that Kalubo's tastes bent just a bit towards the sadistic. The poor human girl didn't know what she was in for, but she was just what Dral Trord needed to save his own hide.

She'd had companions with her who had wanted to accompany her to Kalubo's palace. They were obviously new to Nar Shaddaa since they had thought that a Jedi and two Republic soldiers would be allowed to enter His Magnificence's estate while armed.

Even now, Dral wasn't sure why he'd let the Jedi and the two soldiers in. He vaguely remembered the Jedi waving his hand as he presented a very reasonable argument. After all, what harm could they possibly do when Kalubo's guards permeated the palace?

The band was just now finishing its opening number in the open air on the roof of the skyscraper. It was quite impossible to have a proper Hutt palace on Nar Shaddaa, but with Kalubo's wealth, the upper levels of this particular building had been structured to suit his needs.

As the crowd of sycophants and supplicants applauded the musicians, Dral looked around for the entertainment he had hired. She stood behind him in a black hooded robe that covered her entire body.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her. "You're supposed to be-"

"Easy, hun," the girl said as she brought a soft, fleshy hand to his spiked cheek. "I plan to tease 'em a bit. You're paying for the best, aren't you?"

In fact, the high price tag for an evening entertainer was to attract someone who would ignore the high mortality rate that entertaining Kalubo the Hutt tended to entail. Even so, she did have his thoughts wandering away from his Master, which was quite an accomplishment given that Dral didn't usually go for humans.

"Just be sure to back up that claim," he said as he stepped out in the middle of the open-air chamber.

"Ladies, gentlebeings, assorted sentients," he announced to the crowd. "His Magnificence, Kalubo the Hutt, welcomes you to his palace for an evening of entertainment and wonder. My Master is proud to present, for your pleasure and enjoyment, a view of the best that human flesh has to offer!" Inwardly, he wondered if the girl's name was truly her own or just a stage name, but he would play it for all it was worth.

"I give you, sentient beings, a lady of wonder, the Mistress Faith!"

Dral Trord retreated as the girl walked onto the stage in her black robe. She looked more like a Sith Lord than an entertainer. Was that why he'd called her 'Mistress?' That hadn't been part of the script.

Deciding simply to watch, Dral saw the girl look across the audience before walking carefully along the edge of the stage. Her robe parted just enough to allow peeks of bare skin to peek out as she walked. Well-muscled legs teased the audience as she turned her back to them.

A few sentients began to boo and jeer, and Dral thought that he might truly die tonight. Then the girl lowered her hood and looked over her shoulder, teasing the audience with her makeup-heavy eyes and lips.

Faith took hold of a pole and raised one bent, bare leg. Leaning back, the girl let her robe fall to the ground, revealing her for the beauty that she truly was. Most guests did not object to full nudity, but for those few who did, the girl still had a fashionable gold bikini covering her genitalia. Ornamental sandals and wristbands made her look all the more exotic.

Now the crowd was happy, and they applauded her as she danced to whatever tune the musicians decided to play. She was a master of improvisation, her body flowing as if she was one with the music.

Dral wanted her, even though she was a human. Squishy she might be, she was full of heat and positively exuded much sexual energy. Dral was reminded of just how unsatisfactory his own sex life had been for the past few months.

Kalubo sat on his massive throne and bellowed his approval, egging the crowd on further. The moment was near.

Faith was gyrating against the pole, tantalizing the crowd with her languid body movements. She wrapped her legs around the poll and leaned back, her torso hanging upside down as the various sentients in the crowd went wild.

And now came the part of his job that Dral hated. As the Faith girl lowered herself off the pole, Kalubo hit a button on his throne, and the floor beneath the dancing girl's feet gave way.

She had quick reflexes, he would give her that. Kalubo had known that some species possessed great lower body strength with which to leap and jump, and so he activated the suction mechanisms that drew Faith down into the pit below.

After re-sealing itself, the floor that Faith had been dancing on flickered into transparency as the audience closed in to watch the real entertainment.

Now was usually the part where the hapless dancing girl realized the magnitude of her folly, and the panic began to set in. Soon enough, all hope would fade.

Instead, the girl smirked and looked up, straight at Kalubo. "When I get out of here, you and I are gonna renegotiate just how much you owe me."

Kalubo merely laughed at the gall of the girl, but Dral sensed a ferocity about her that most dancing girls – most people in general – just did not possess.

Dral Trord vowed that if he survived the next few days, he would strive to find a more forgiving patron, even if the job did pay less.

* * *

Faith swore under her breath for being so stupid. Of course there was going to be a catch to the job. There was always a catch. It had been fun showing off her body for a little bit; the Jedi weren't too big with the fun-having, so it had been nice to goof around. She wished that whoever had designed the bikini she was wearing had put something softer inside to cushion her skin. Gold might be fashionable, but it also chafed a bit.

Now, however, the bright neon of Nar Shaddaa's skyline had been replaced with a dank, smelly pit full of ripped clothes, discarded weapons in various states of disrepair, and a number of bones in varying shapes and sizes. Above her, the roof of her chamber had turned transparent, presumably to allow the audience to watch Faith get mauled to death by whatever was waiting down here.

A large metal door opposite Faith held some creature behind it, if the growling and stomping sounds were to be believed. Reaching out with the Force, Faith could sense that whatever was behind the door was very large, very strong, and very hungry.

As the door began to open, parting into three sections, Faith got the distinct impression that the creature on the other side could sense her probing it through the Force. It seemed to have one word on its mind: Prey.

Faith did not flinch from the creature's thoughts and stood her ground. She steadied her body and steeled her mind the same way she went demon-hunting back home. She'd faced down the Beast and lived to tell the tale, so Faith was fairly confident that she could handle whatever this creature was.

The gigantic doors finally opened enough to allow the monstrous creature to walk through. It was at least ten meters tall, probably more, and it walked on two legs, grasped with two clawed arms, and roared with one very large mouth with lots of large, sharp teeth.

Faith thought she heard someone above her whisper the word 'rancor,' and she had a name for the creature. She made ready to leap into action at a moment's notice, staring down the monster without blinking as the crowd above her went wild.

The rancor stepped forward, causing the floor beneath Faith's feet to shake. She did not let it affect her, and she kept eye contact with the creature. "You may be one mean mother," Faith whispered, "but I'm meaner."

Faith waited for the creature to lunge at her, but it stayed still. Was it waiting for her to make the first move? Predators didn't yield to their prey like this. Faith was confused, but then the creature's beady eyes blinked, and Faith knew that all of her predatory prowess was being projected through the Force, and this rancor was attuned to the Force somehow and was picking up on her inner Slayer.

"Yeah, that's right," Faith said in an attempt at menace. "You know who's the bigger bad down here, don't you?"

The creature positively whimpered, and Faith stepped forward as a series of confused images flitted across the periphery of her mind.

The rancor had been warm inside of an egg for a time, and then it had been taken by men with whips and chains. They had starved it for months on end, only to erupt in obvious glee when they tossed a pittance of fresh meat its way. It had grown slowly, but it had grown, and then the meals became more frequent, but they had consisted of only a single bag of flesh every few days for years.

The rancor had primal urges to run and hunt down fleeing prey. The cage it was in was too small, and it longed for plains and forests so that it could run and leap like it was born to do. It was a predator denied both its hunting grounds and its prey, and now it was being cowed by a small wisp of a thing that exuded power far greater than its own.

Faith knew what demons felt like. She had fought so many evil creatures in her time that she would swear she had a sixth sense for evil. This was no such animal, however. The rancor was just a predator, like Faith herself, caught in an alien place so far from home.

"I wish I could help you, Clifford," Faith said softly, remembering the children's books about a big red dog when she was young. "I wish I could help, but I got places to be. I'm strong, but I'm not strong enough to get you back home."

The rancor sulked with a low groan and settled down into a crouch on the ground.

Faith walked over to the hulking monster and stroked it with one hand. "You got dealt a shitty hand, buddy. Life sucks sometimes, but you'll survive. As for those guys with the whips and the chains… You may think they own you, but show a little backbone and you'll see that they're just as crunchy and yummy as anything else you could hope for. Trust me."

A groaning sigh escaped the rancor's enormous mouth, but it did not move.

"Ladies, gentlebeings, assorted sentients!" the spiky-skinned MC said over the speakers, "let's have a hand for Mistress Faith, the Rancor-Tamer!"

Maybe the crowd had come looking to sate its bloodlust, but the site of a tame rancor at the hands of what must look like a desperate dancing girl must have been rare enough to get a loud chorus of applause.

A human-sized door opened at one end of the chamber, and Faith looked once more at the rancor before heading for the exit.

An obese green-skinned Twi'lek man held a whip in his hand and passed Faith as she walked out of the beast pit. "Give him hell, buddy," Faith whispered, letting the Force carry her words back to the rancor.

A small lift took Faith back up to the open air roof, where the cheers of the crowd grew louder as Faith sensed the rancor freeing itself from one of its tormentors in the only way a true predator could.

Faith felt a small amount of regret for the beast-handler, but the wanton cruelty of everyone in Kalubo's palace, the lust for spilled blood… Faith decided that it would be best if she got away from these people as soon as possible.

Ralto, Tal, and Vira stood by a desk in a covered passage leading away from the main entertainment. At the desk sat a female Nautolan, and Faith smiled as she sauntered over to collect her payment.

Faith couldn't wait to get back home and tell this story. Buffy was never going to believe this!


	21. Buffy X - Power Overwhelming

**Buffy X - Power Overwhelming**

* * *

Buffy was tired, hot, and sweaty – and not in a good way. The non-insect-like sandcrawler was quite possibly still partially demonic in how hot it was. The living quarters were far too small for non-Jawas, but that had not prevented Dalen from making a joke about Buffy's height. The only area large enough for three standard-sized humanoids was a cargo bay that housed the largest variety of droids that Buffy had ever seen.

The Jawas had little in the way of modern healing technology, but Dalen had managed to barter for some kolto to help heal his arm. Buffy could feel his pain in the Force, but she could also sense that it was less than it had been not that long ago.

How long Buffy, Dalen, and Thriss had been inside the sandcrawler en route to the ruin, Buffy could not say. While the Jawas' living spaces might or might not have had lights or windows to indicate the passage of time, there was only a dim artificial light in the cargo hold by which to see anything at all. The cramped closeness of the room, with several droids producing some amount of heat or another, was making the room hot, musty, and generally not very comfortable.

"How're you holding up, Thriss?" Buffy asked. The Chiss woman had put up minimal complaint despite her obvious discomfort. Buffy suspected that she was either afraid to speak her mind, or else the Chiss just didn't complain a lot. Whatever the cause, it was slightly unnerving.

Thriss had removed her robe and her outer shirt, leaving her top mostly exposed save for a grey tank top that looked to be soaked with sweat. "I am dealing with the heat as well as can be expected, I assume," she said between heavy breaths. "I confess that I had hoped that my first visit to another planet would be to one with a more agreeable climate."

"Thriss, might I be blunt?" Dalen asked. The three of them were sitting a few feet apart from each other on seats that Buffy suspected might have been droids that were either not working or else were too polite to tell them to get off.

"You may be blunt, Lord Dalen. I prefer that conversation be direct," Thriss replied.

Dalen arched a brow at her statement. "Then I ask you, Thriss, as someone who favors the direct approach, why do you balk at expressing your own discomfort? It is obvious that you are only barely tolerating the heat. Am I correct in assuming, Buffy, that you meant to allow Thriss an avenue with which to express herself freely?"

Buffy shrugged. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to censor yourself, Thriss."

"That is what I just said," Dalen remarked with a touch of annoyance.

Thriss shrugged, and Buffy took a moment to admire the Chiss archaeologist's well-toned body. It might have been blue, but it was still quite attractive.

"I find no use in protesting against what cannot be helped," Thriss said simply. "It is wasteful and inappropriate."

Buffy sighed and wondered if this was Thriss's personal opinion or else a byproduct of Chiss society. "If you're going to slow us down, then we need to know."

"Why?" Dalen asked with complete honesty. "If she ends up being a burden, we will learn one way or another eventually and deal with the matter then." He looked to Thriss with what might have been an apologetic look. "You did say you favor directness."

"I do," Thriss said bitterly.

Buffy shook her head. "Well, that's not what I meant. If you're hurting, then we need to know so that we can help you. You're no good to us if you're dying from the heat."

"A man or woman who is withering away is of little use to anyone," Dalen shot back. "Better to look forward rather than to be weighed down by those who cannot keep up."

"You did not protest against waiting to treat your arm when it was damaged," Thriss noted. "Are you less expendable than I, Lord Dalen? Or is there some excuse you will attempt to conjure to explain how you are more useful than I am?"

"People, please!" Buffy said, trying to calm things down. Dalen was usually civilized and polite, and Buffy sometimes forgot that he was the product of a truly ruthless society, and that he himself was capable of a surprising level of ruthlessness. "We're on the same team here. If one of us needs to rest, we all rest. If one of us gets hurt, we all stop to heal him or her. We rise or fall as one. Do I make myself clear?" she growled.

Thriss answered with a silent nod of her head. Buffy wasn't surprised that the Chiss had agreed.

Dalen looked to be less decisive. Buffy guessed that he was torn between his faith in the two women and his familiar Sith culture.

Buffy swore and drew her lightsaber, igniting it so that her blade was just centimeters away from the break in his arm. "We do this together, Dalen. You can fall in line or you can get out of our way, but you will not become an obstacle. Got it?" she snarled.

For some reason, Dalen smirked with what looked like satisfaction. "I understand perfectly, Lord Summers," he said smoothly. "This will not be an issue again."

"Good." Buffy switched off her lightsaber and attached it to her belt.

The sound of metal grinding against metal screeched throughout the cargo bay, and a large door on the side of the sandcrawler opened. A Jawa came up a ramp and began rambling off words in its yappy language.

"Sorry, what was that?" Buffy asked.

"He said," a bodiless square metal head answered, "'we have arrived.'"

* * *

They were far enough away from civilization that Buffy could not sense anything sapient save for herself, Dalen, Thriss, and the Jawas. The latter were none too thrilled when Buffy told them that they would have to wait for the three of them to return so that they could get safely back to their ship.

Buffy was dealing with a Jawa she hadn't met before, who was supposedly the chieftain of the Tkon Clan. There were three other Jawas with him: Shamans who were trying to impart to Buffy and her companions just how dangerous the area was.

"Look," Buffy said, "I get that this wasn't explicitly stated in our agreement before, but I kind of assumed-"

The chieftain started jabbering angrily, which Buffy took to mean, 'Never assume anything.' A protocol droid confirmed her suspicions a moment later.

"What are you afraid will happen if you just wait out here for a bit?" Buffy asked.

"Bad things," were all that the droid was able to say, and Buffy sensed that the Jawas' fear was more superstition than it was anything else.

Buffy was hot, she was tired, and she was out in the middle of an alien desert. These little rats would _not_ deny her a way back.

"Let me make myself clear," Buffy said in a low snarl. "We bargained with you in good faith. If you plan to leave us here to die, then I have every reason to kill you all and keep the sandcrawler for myself. I'm sure that some of your droids know how to pilot it back to Anchorhead."

The chieftain leaped up and yapped in shocked horror. An "Utinni!" later, and the chieftain and his three shamans turned around and looked ready to leave.

Buffy felt bile rising in her throat, and she reached out with one hand and yanked the four Jawas back towards her with the Force.

"No," she hissed. "You will stay, and you will take us back when we are ready to go. You will not disturb us until we are ready to leave. We will tell you when we are ready, and then you will do as we say. You can obey now, or you can die."

The feel of arcane Force energies flowing through Buffy's body was exhilarating, and the briefest touch of the Jawas' minds told her that she was the one in control.

The Jawas muttered something in unison, which the droid translated. "We will obey."

Buffy smirked as she felt the admiring gazes of Dalen and Thriss from a few feet behind her. "I was right," she said to herself. "It's about power. Go back inside the sandcrawler and stay out of the heat. We'll tell you when we're ready. Keep your people in line while we're gone."

Another chorus of words from the Jawas, another "We will obey" from the droid, and the Jawas filed single file into their vehicle.

"I am impressed, Summers," Dalen said as he came up to her side. "I confess, I did not think you had the strength of will to dominate another's mind."

Buffy sensed his true meaning and faced him with a smirk. "What you're trying to say is that you didn't think I was mean enough to do it. I've dealt with demons of all sorts over the years. Some are benign, some are downright evil, and others are tricky and need to be handled properly. These Jawas are the latter. Handle them the right way, and they'll do what we need them to do without any need for violence. No muss, no fuss."

"That was quite exhilarating," Thriss said. "The power of the Force is truly astonishing. Do I have this power too?"

Buffy felt invincible now, and she channeled a bit of her power to the young Chiss and directed it to inspire in Thriss more confidence in Buffy's own abilities. "You do have the power, Thriss. I'll teach it to you, and we'll be unstoppable together."

Thriss's breath caught in her throat, and Buffy felt her loins grow hot as she felt her subtle manipulations cement the Chiss's loyalty even further. "Excellent, Lord Summers!"

"Call me Buffy, already," she said lightly. "Let's go."

She did not have to specify a direction. They were in the middle of the Dune Sea, and there was only one landmark within eyesight other than the sandcrawler: A number of columns that looked to be made out of stone rose up out of the sand in a circle. They surrounded a stone bottom that was untouched by the desert sands.

That, and the Dark Side of the Force was positively thrumming from the place.

The three Force-users walked with purpose towards the site. Buffy could feel the power in the air, and she wanted it. She could feel Thriss's lust for her building after her display with the Jawas, and Buffy decided that she had gone too long without the comfort of another. When they got back to the ship, she would only have to ask, and Thriss would be in her bed.

It gave her something to look forward to.

The edge of the ruin was made clear when Buffy stepped through an invisible threshold. There was suddenly no wind, the heat was immediately less, and the power of the Dark Side had increased tenfold.

"It is colder than I thought it would be," Thriss said strangely.

"I would think that you would be glad for a change in temperature," Dalen inquired.

Thriss shook her head. "It is not a bodily thing. It is something intangible, and yet I feel it inside me. It is dark and cold. Should we be here?"

"Yes!" Buffy exclaimed. "This is the power of the Dark Side, Thriss! It's harsh and unfriendly, but you can dominate it! Make it yours!"

"How?" Thriss gasped with yearning. "How can I make the cold go away?"

"Close your eyes," Dalen instructed.

Buffy whipped her head around and almost smacked Dalen over the head before she realized that he was just trying to help. So what if she wasn't the one to teach the lovely Chiss woman such an intimate thing. They were a team.

"In the darkness, there is a single spot of heat and vibrancy. That is you. It is both a part of you and separate from you," Dalen instructed. "Reach out and grasp it. Feel its power in your mind's eye, and know that this power, your power, serves no master but your own will."

Buffy could feel the intensity of Thriss's red gaze even through her closed eyelids, and when they opened again, Buffy projected her pride at the other woman.

"It feels good," Thriss purred. "So much power, just waiting to be tapped."

"Not tapped," Buffy corrected. "Taken. Seized. Made your own. Do you understand the difference?"

Thriss nodded, panting from something other than the heat of the suns. "Yes, Lord… Yes, Buffy."

"Good. Let's continue."

Buffy widened her strides, but Dalen caught up to her.

"What?" she demanded more harshly than she meant.

"You are growing in power day by day," he said softly. She heard him perfectly. "Your mastery of the Force is incredible. You have an intuitive grasp of subtleties that many Sith Lords need years to master. I find your power… intoxicating."

Buffy smirked silently, knowing that she had power over both of her fellows that she could exploit at will. "You want me, do you, Dalen?"

"Do not be coy, Buffy. You know that I have lusted for you for quite some time."

The force with which Dalen had spoken told Buffy that he had wanted her for longer than she had guessed. This was good. He was no threat to her now. "Maybe later, we can take some time to play. But you'll have to be a good boy," she teased.

"You are insufferable," Dalen hissed, but Buffy could tell he was far from angry.

"I know," was all that Buffy said.

The stone columns grew closer, and Buffy could see that they were hexagonal. The same emblem that had been on the ruin in Csilla adorned the nearest column. Buffy guessed that each of the other three columns was identical. They surrounded an octagonal stone floor that was engraved with alien symbols.

Buffy stepped onto the stone platform, and Dalen and Thriss followed right behind her.

Nothing happened.

"What do we do now?" Thriss asked.

"We figure it out," Buffy said. "It's a puzzle, it just needs to be solved."

"Perhaps one of the droids in the sandcrawler can make sense of these symbols," Dalen proposed. "They seem to be a sort of language."

Buffy nodded. "Good idea. I'll go back and get a droid or two. You two stay here and try to make some sense of the thing."

"As you wish, Buffy," Thriss cooed.

Dalen shot a glare at Thriss, and Buffy felt envy flowing off her former master like a torrential river.

"I'll be back soon, okay? You two behave while I'm gone," Buffy chided mockingly.

Dalen scowled, but he nodded in acknowledgment all the same.

Buffy turned around and started to walk back towards the sandcrawler. Very soon, the feel of the ruin and her two companions were faint in the distance.

The walk through the sand was tiresome and boring. The Jawas' vehicle looked to be farther away than she remembered, and it didn't look to be getting any closer.

Anger began to overwhelm Buffy, and she looked inward and made that anger into power. She would master the power of this ruin no matter what it took.

She turned to look back at the ruin and her two companions.

It was gone.

Turning around quickly, Buffy looked for the sandcrawler, but it too had vanished.

Despite what her eyes told her, Buffy knew that she was not alone.

A moment's notice in the Force was all she had, and Buffy rolled to the side and came up with her red lightsaber blade active and thrumming, ready to face her new enemy.

Staring at Buffy as she prowled across the sands was a feral-looking human woman with dark skin, tattered white clothing, wild black hair, and white face paint.

It was Sineya, the First Slayer.

"What do you want?" Buffy yelled angrily.

The First Slayer was silent as she prowled in a circle around Buffy.

"What is it this time? More riddles? More games?" Buffy shouted. "What do you have to tell me this time? Let me guess: Death is still my gift, right?"

Sineya lunged at Buffy with a wicked-looking knife. Buffy dodged and let the First Slayer move past her.

"Death," Sineya said with mocking cruelty, "is your curse."

That drew Buffy up short. "What? Since when?"

"Death _was_ your gift. It is now your curse."

Buffy stormed forward with her lightsaber ready to strike. "Stop messing around and tell me what's going on, already!"

Sineya made another lunge, and Buffy ducked and flipped the First Slayer over her shoulder.

Buffy turned to face her and found herself in the middle of the desert ruin. Dalen and Thriss were each tied to a separate column. Their arms and legs were bound, and their mouths were gagged.

"What is this?" Buffy demanded.

Sineya spoke again, but this time her words were distorted and strange, as if something else was speaking with her body. "Death," it said, "is _their_ gift."

A rush of wind and a smoky visage appeared next to either of Buffy's companions. The black smoke resembled Buffy in a dark, twisted way, and one had a red blade drawn across Dalen's throat. The other threatened Thriss similarly.

"Death," mocked the cruel not-Sineya, "is your curse."

A flash of insight hit Buffy like a boulder to her gut. She had never left the ruin, and now it was testing her. It wanted her to choose either Dalen or Thriss to die. And to add insult to injury, whatever was making this demand was channeling her inner Slayer.

"You are so wrong," Buffy said with a vicious grin. "Death isn't my curse. It's yours."

Lunging at the false Sineya, Buffy made a play for its gut with her lightsaber. The spirit, ghost, demon, whatever it was parried her blow with the long metal knife and danced just outside of her reach. It did not occur to Buffy to question what the thing's weapon was made from.

Howling in anger, Buffy lashed out at the demonic essence, but it kept eluding her and laughing all the while.

It was toying with her, trying to tire her out. And if it succeeded, then she would die. And she wouldn't be able to save either Dalen or Thriss.

"No!"

With that one word, Buffy reached out with the Force and seized the false Sineya around its throat and flung it into one of the bare columns.

It only laughed at her, and Buffy could feel its cruel mockery.

"You." Buffy took a step forward. "Are." She raised her hands skyward. "So." Power began to dance across her fingers.

"Dead!"

Dark violet lightning stormed down from the sky, cascading around Buffy as she hovered in the center of a maelstrom of violent dark side energies.

The false Sineya writhed and screamed against the column, and Buffy felt its pain and reveled in it.

The mock First Slayer fell to the ground, and Buffy also let her feet touch the stone again as the storm abated. She moved with deadly purpose towards the false Sineya's body.

The thing was on its back, but Buffy reached out with one foot and turned it over. She wanted to look it in the eye as she struck it down.

And then she saw the last thing she expected.

"You did it," Faith whispered just as she had on that apartment balcony so long ago. "You killed me."

A soft breeze blew through the stone ruin and Faith's peaceful face dispersed into grains of sand along with the rest of her body.

The last thing to go was her knife, and Buffy saw that it was no longer the long, machete-like weapon that the First Slayer had wielded, but the wide, curvy dagger that was stained now – as it had been back then – with Faith's own blood. It almost seemed to taunt Buffy before disappearing in the wind.

The last vestiges of the false vision faded, and Buffy was standing in the center of the stone ruin once more.

Dalen and Thriss were there also, but they were both huddled on the ground in obvious pain, and their clothes and skin showed numerous burns.

Buffy felt sick as she realized that her own conjured storm of lightning had done this to her friends. In her anger, she had damaged them, hurt them. She remembered Darth Arctis's brief use of Force lightning on her, and she knew that the pain Dalen and Thriss had suffered was much greater than what she herself had experienced.

The four columns of the ruin each lit up and shot a beam of white light into the middle, and an image of the galaxy formed at Buffy's shoulder level.

Buffy had no desire to look over the star map now. She hastily took Dalen's datapad out of his pocket and held it up to the map, and it obediently poured its information into the storage device in a stream of white light.

"All right. Come on!" Buffy said in a panic. "You guys are okay, aren't you? Dalen? Thriss? Come on, stay with me!"

"B-Buffy," Thriss croaked out. "What happened?"

"Never mind what happened. Can you move? How bad are you hurt?"

Thriss winced as she got to her feet. "I can move, but it hurts to do so. I will recover in time. How is Lord Dalen?"

Buffy was by her former master's side a moment later. "Come on now, Shar. Come back, okay? You're gonna be all right."

Dalen opened his eyes and tried to move, but he winced in pain as he did so. "You are far stronger than I had imagined," Dalen croaked out.

Buffy shook her head. "If I'd been stronger, I would've been able to beat that thing without hurting you."

Dalen smiled thinly. "For all your power, you still have much to learn. But not from me."

Buffy didn't like what he was saying. "What're you talking about? We have some kolto, right? We'll get you patched up in no time."

Dalen winced as he tried to speak. "I've become a liability. I will only slow you down. Go, my Lord. Take Thriss as your apprentice and lay waste to the Republic. I will die here, as a Sith should: At the hands of the apprentice who surpassed me."

Buffy had to restrain herself from smacking Dalen across the face. "What did I say just earlier today? We do this together. Thriss, help me carry him back to the sandcrawler."

The Chiss rushed to obey, and the two women each took Dalen by one arm and lifted him up so that they supported him on either side. "We will not abandon you, Lord Dalen," Thriss vowed.

"Damn straight we won't," Buffy said.

Dalen looked at Buffy with something resembling longing. "You are a strange Sith, Lord Summers. But I am glad to have you as my friend."

Buffy felt herself swell with pride as Dalen, for the first time in her memory, called her a friend. She willed her tears not to fall. "Don't go soft on me now, Shar," she said. "We got what we came for, so what do you say we get off this God-forsaken rock?"

"As you say," Dalen whispered. "My Lord."


	22. Faith X - Descent

**Faith X - Descent**

* * *

Collecting a payment of Cartel Coins proved to be a more time-consuming endeavor than Faith had anticipated. Before she could redeem her payment from Kalubo the Hutt, she had to register with a licensed Hutt Cartel official to set up an account. Apparently, when you called something a 'coin' in Hutt space, it was merely a formality meant to indicate a digital form of currency.

Then, in order to get the process to move along at a pace that was more in line with Faith's needs – as opposed to the six month waiting period that was supposedly the default – the wheels of commerce had to be greased. Thankfully, none of Faith's companions held her responsible for this twist of fate; Ralto, Vira, and Tal all contributed to the 1030 credit fee to get the account activated today, thank you very much.

After that, Faith had to go back to Kalubo the Hutt's palace to claim her reward. Unfortunately, Kalubo seemed to have forgotten her performance and was insisting that if she wanted to be paid, she'd have to dance for him again. The rancor pit was left unmentioned.

Thankfully, Tal had insisted that Faith keep written copies of all of her official transactions on Nar Shaddaa in both Basic and Huttese in both flimsiplast and datapad formats. Faith shoved the documents in his face and threatened to tell all of Hutt Space that Kalubo had no compunctions about breaching a contract, which got him to tell his clerk to pay Faith what she was owed.

Before she collected her payment, however, Faith reminded Kalubo that being dumped into a rancor pit had not been part of her contract, and as such, she was owed at least a little bit extra. The Hutt was reluctant, but after Faith reminded him of her control of his pet rancor, and how she might suggest to it that Kalubo might make a snack tasty enough worth breaking out of its cage for, the final deal was settled at 1550 Cartel Coins.

Faith still preferred to call it 'fake money.'

Now the Slayer stood with her companions on the roof of one of the taller towers in a relatively upscale part of Nar Shaddaa. Before her, the Chronicle was waiting.

"I don't want to mess this up, and I'm betting that the Hutts have all sorts of fees and tithes for any little screw-ups. You mind taking point on this, Tal?" Faith asked.

The Major nodded and stepped forward. "All right. I'll give it a try."

Faith winced. "Don't _try_, Tal. Do it or don't do it. 'Try' gets you screwed."

"All right, all right! No trying, just doing. Doing it now."

Ralto handed Major Cortland a datapad that Faith guessed had the information about the ruin they had found on Taris. Hopefully, this would be quick and painless.

"Okay. Uh, it says we need to choose an input method. Do we want audio, visual, electronic input, olfactory, tactile, or miscellaneous?"

"Oh, brother," Vira groaned. "I'd choose electronic input. We can make up the question exactly how we want it on the pad and then transfer it directly."

"Sounds good," Tal said. He input the command, only to be met with a harsh beeping sound.

"What is it?" Faith said resignedly.

Tal cleared his throat. "Electronic input has a fee of 50 Cartel Coins."

Faith crossed her arms and arched a silent, challenging eyebrow.

The Major sighed. "It costs 50 fake credits. Happy now?"

"Not really. Do we have the question ready?"

"Yeah, you wanna take a look at it?"

Faith took the pad from Tal and looked over the contents of the question. It read, "What is the geographic location of a structure predating the Republic, predating the Empire, and predating the Hutt annexation of Nar Shaddaa that is emblemized in some way with the following symbol?" The segmented diamond shape followed the question.

"Looks like you covered everything, Tal," Faith said, handing the pad back to him.

Tal smiled. "Thank your Master, Faith. He's the one who wrote this up."

"Oh." Faith looked at the blue-skinned Nautolan, who was wearing a patient smile and a knowing look. "Thanks, Ralto. And, uh, no disrespect meant, okay?"

"None was taken, Faith," Ralto said calmly. "Nevertheless, the sentiment is appreciated."

"Well, okay then," Faith said, feeling rather awkward. "Let's get this over with."

"All right, then," Tal said. "Inputting the question."

The Chronicle hub beeped and whistled with the sounds of computation for almost three full minutes before it beeped with the same harsh sound as when it had requested an input method.

"Damn! It says the question is incomplete," Tal said, his voice full of disbelief. "It says we'll need to pay the full price to ask again."

"What the fuck?! Let me see that!" Faith yelled, pushing the giant of a man that was Tal aside and moving to look at the console. "This is fucked up. Is there some way we can find out exactly how the question wasn't finished?"

The console whirred and then spoke in a booming Huttese voice. "You have switched to audio input. You have been debited 50 Cartel Coins for the transfer to audio input and 330 Cartel Coins for your question. The answer is 'yes.'"

"Ah, shit!" Faith was really starting to get angry. "All right, let's keep calm and not ask questions. We've asked two questions, apparently. That's 660 fake credits, plus another 100 for choosing a method of asking twice. That's 770 total. So, we have…"

"We have 780 Cartel Coins left, Faith. And no, I am not going to call it what it is not for your peace of mind," the Nautolan Jedi said.

Faith chuckled. "So much for 'there is no emotion, there is peace.'"

"Faith," Ralto chided.

"Kidding, Ralto! Lighten up." Faith declined to add that she had to keep her mood light to avoid doing anything that would end up causing herself to be charged another unnecessary fee.

"Let me handle this," Ralto said calmly. He stepped forward to the console and asked aloud, "How was the first question tied to this account incomplete?"

The computer beeped for a few seconds before answering, "No planetary mass was identified to provide a geographic location. You have been feed 330 Cartel Coins for your question."

"All right, then. Major Cortland, please hand me your pad."

Tal quickly complied and gave the datapad to Master Ralto, who promptly edited the question to include the phrase 'on Nar Shaddaa.' Faith didn't see or hear anything, but she guessed that Ralto switched back to data transfer, because the computer didn't say anything as it whirred and beeped again, finally chiming a happier note.

"Excellent!" Ralto said in a rare burst of emotion. "We have the coordinates."

"Well, what are we waiting around here for?" Vira asked. She looked a bit twitchy. "Let's get going already!"

"I thought you were anxious about what we will find on the surface, Lieutenant Septus," Ralto said.

Vira just shrugged. "Anything's better than sitting up here and just waiting around."

"Ditto that," Faith said. "C'mon, let's get this done already."

* * *

The narrow areas between skyscrapers were generally too small for a starship to navigate, but Tal had found a generally reputable speeder dealer on the Promenade. At Vira's suggestion, they had opted for a four-seat vehicle built for speed with a spherical aft compartment that rotated 360 degrees on every axis. The aft compartment was armed with a repeating blaster cannon that would not be out of place on a lean fighter. What would have cost a small fortune in credits was happily turned over to them for a hundred Cartel Coins.

Faith had opted to take the aft compartment, and was finding herself sorely tested by the various hazards that only grew more numerous the further down they ventured. She also had to avoid shooting the main cabin of the speeder.

"What the hell are those things?!" Vira shouted over the intercom as the two swoop bikes pursuing the speeder were joined by a small flock of snake-like beasts with bat-like wings.

"How the hell should I know?!" Faith yelled back as she pivoted the laser cannon to deal with each threat in turn.

The swoop bikes had blasters installed, and the creatures were projectile spitting something that might have been acid. Ralto was at the helm, and Faith thanked whatever gods were listening that he had the Force to guide them through all of the obstacles they faced.

"Remain calm," Ralto said. "Let the Force guide your aim."

"Easy for you to say," Faith said. "You're not facing _towards_ the incoming hail of death."

"If you could deal with the aforementioned hail of death," Tal half-shouted, "I would greatly appreciate it."

Faith smirked. "Since you asked so nicely, let's see what we can do."

It was hard to surrender control on any level, but Faith knew that if she didn't relax and let the Force in, she would just be shooting blind. There was barely any light down this far. The speeder and the swoop bikes let out just enough light to see tiny bits of targets, but not enough for a precise shot.

Against her better judgment, Faith closed her eyes and began to breathe as she did when she meditated.

The rejuvenating feel of the Force flowed through Faith's body, and it felt like time slowed down and the darkness was suddenly full of colorful lights that each told a story all their own.

Two of those colors gave off a distinctive 'swoop bike' vibe, while a cluster of others felt a lot like something that Xander might have called 'deadly beasts of death.'

The meditation techniques that Faith had learned while in prison back on Earth had been immensely helpful for Faith as she tried to master a number of Jedi exercises. One such result was that even these threats to her safety, and that of her friends, had an inner beauty that was worth seeing.

Despite what the Force was showing her, the beauty of the Force would be of little benefit to them if they all died. Faith let the Force guide her hands as she pivoted in her sphere to face one of the swoop bikes.

Faith nudged the driver with a subtle push of the Force. He moved a bit off to the side towards a cluster of the winged creatures.

The slightest touch of a finger on a trigger made an explosion of blue fire that took the biker and a number of creatures with it.

Another pivot, another shot, another enemy down. It was a routine experience in one sense, and yet each sensation in the Force was unique in another.

"Nice shooting!" Tal whooped over the com.

Faith relaxed and opened her eyes, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "No problem, guys. So, Ralto…"

"And now, it starts," the Nautolan groaned.

"What starts?" Vira asked.

"What starts now is what Faith assures me is an ancient tradition on her homeworld," Ralto said with a resigned sigh.

"You know it," Faith said. "So… Are we there yet?"

"No, Faith. We are not there yet," Ralto said patiently.

Faith swore she could feel the Jedi Master struggling to steady his breathing. "What about now? Are we there yet?"

"Faith," Vira said strangely. "We're no closer than we were a second ago. Why are you asking again?"

"Ancient tradition," Tal said with mischief in his voice. "And as your commanding officer, I'm ordering you to suck it up and deal with it, Lieutenant."

"Deal with what, _sir?_"

"Are we there yet?"

"How long does this go on?" Vira said in a tone that was just short of raging.

"It goes on until we get there," Ralto said. "If you think you can get her to stop, by all means, do try. Force knows I've tried everything I could think of when we were on the shuttle from Tython."

"So much for 'do or do not,'" Tal said teasingly.

"You guys are all the best," Faith said sweetly. "So, are we there yet?"

Vira started to swear up a storm while Tal just chuckled and tolerated the lieutenant's technically-insubordinate behavior.

* * *

When Ralto finally announced that yes, they had arrived, Faith had a sudden strong urge to turn around and run the hell away. Anywhere but here seemed like a good idea.

'Here' was the base of an ancient-looking tower that wouldn't have been out of place in Los Angeles, assuming the City of Angels had undergone the erosion and rust and decay that occurred over thousands of years. The materials for this building must have been stronger than Earth buildings, since it was still standing.

The tower was not the source of the cold darkness that was trying to ooze into each of Faith's pores. The tower itself jutted upward out of a stone ziggurat that strongly resembled a Mayan pyramid. Faith had never been inside of any Mayan ruins before, but she guessed that she would have preferred the Earth-based pyramids to this temple that was almost tangibly dark.

"Is it just me," Tal asked, "or is it a lot colder than our instruments say it is?"

"It's the Dark Side of the Force," Faith said idly as she looked without her eyes for an entrance. "No light, no warmth, just dark and cold. It's scary as shit, but it can only hurt you if you let it."

"Faith speaks true," Ralto said sagely. "There may be strange things we must face inside this… temple? Whatever they are, the darkness this place exudes is not a threat on its own. It will try to play on your fears and doubts, but it will only be as strong as you allow it to be."

"Funny," Vira said with heavy sarcasm, "how that isn't much of a comfort."

"Don't worry, Vira," Faith said. "Just stick close to us. Sabers out, Ralto?"

"Yes, I think so, Faith."

Blades of blue and gold ignited as the two soldiers drew their guns and turned on their flashlights. The segmented diamond from the previous ruin was prominent on the face of the temple.

"All right, campers! Let's get in there," Faith said with as much warmth as she could muster.

The four of them trekked silently along the outer edge of the ziggurat until they found a ramp that led upward towards the center.

They followed the ramp and saw that it led inside the structure. Faith looked to each of her companions in the light of her blue blade and caught acknowledging looks from each of them.

They pressed forward. The narrow passage led deep into the stone until it finally let out into a wide, open area.

The first thing that Faith noticed were the twin statues flanking either side of the stone portal they had just passed through. They were identical aliens that were each kneeling and holding an upright spear in both hands. The aliens' heads were very strange to look at. Their heads were tall and thin, and their eyes jutted out near the bottom of their heads on twin stalks.

"Is it just me," Faith asked, "or do these things look like their heads are dicks and their eyes are balls?"

Tal shivered audibly. "You're seriously making jokes right now, Faith?"

"No, I see what she means," Vira said seriously. "They do look rather phallic."

"Fascinating," Ralto said in a hushed voice. "Not the resemblance to human genitalia, but these aliens in general. I've spent many years with my head buried in the Jedi Archives. I was hoping to be a great diplomat some day after the war. I wanted to help the galaxy rebuild and come together. I spent a great deal of time learning as much about the various races of the galaxy as I could. This species is entirely new to me."

"Why didn't you?" Faith asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why didn't you become a diplomat or a peacekeeper? You've got the patience for it. You'd be a killer diplomat," Faith said. "I mean, you'd be really good at it, Ralto."

"That's very kind of you to say, Faith," Ralto said warmly. "Alas, hostilities were clearly only delayed, not terminated. It would have been lax of me not to train new Knights to protect the Republic. I will not pretend, however, that this chance to learn of a new species is not fascinating."

"It may be that," Tal conceded, "but this place is giving me the creeps. You sure you want to meet whoever built this place?"

"There is much to be learned wherever one looks," Ralto answered, his blue face glowing strangely in the light of his golden blade. "Even in the deepest reaches of the darkness, one can always find a bit of light. Come. Let us press forward."

Vira turned her wrist-mounted flashlight to face each side of the room. Passages led away off to the left, to the right, and forward. "Which way do you think?"

"Forward," Faith answered. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew with certainty that this was the right way to go. "Follow me."

They walked forward down another narrow, dark corridor. Faith led the way with Ralto right behind her, followed by Vira with Tal bringing up the rear.

Faith stalked forward carefully, reaching out with the Force to sense any incoming danger before it struck.

A cold breeze tickled Faith's face, but it wasn't soothing in the slightest. The light from her blue saber seemed to grow dimmer, and the presence of her companions began to fade.

"No, no! Stay with me, people!"

Faith marched forward despite the difficulty, though her steps grew more arduous.

Another step forward…

She was in a park full of trees and bushes and flowers, surrounded on all sides by enormous factories and centers of industry. She saw a boy with dark skin running around with his friends.

The sirens began blazing. The grown-ups came to usher their children out of the open and back into the safety of their homes. A woman grabbed the boy, and the boy grabbed a little girl who shared his eyes. They ran to the nearby shelter.

The girl dropped a stuffed animal and let go of her brother. She went back to get it.

The boy called for his sister, but his mother held him tight and kept running.

The bomb fell, and Tal Cortland's sister was no more.

The light from the explosion blinded and deafened Faith for the briefest of moments.

She was in a small town in a canyon of rust-red rocks and boulders. She saw a little girl with red hair standing in a line-up with all the others who lived there in the town.

Men in black armor stood at attention, their blaster rifles armed and ready.

A sickly and pale man in black and purple robes pointed to twenty people, and the men in black armor grabbed each one of them and pushed them down onto their knees.

The armored men shot one, and then another, and then another.

A teenager with bright red hair grabbed his mother and ran as fast as he could get her to run.

The robed man laughed and let loose a torrent of violet lightning from his fingertips, and Vira Septus's brother and mother died in agony.

The lightning was so bright that Faith had to look away.

She was in an enormous library full of datapads and flimsiplast tomes and holocrons dating back millennia. A blue-skinned Nautolan man pondered the teachings of a long-dead Jedi Master, the holocron projecting a virtual teacher to guide the young man towards his own destiny.

The walls began exploding, and debris was raining down from above. It was chaos everywhere.

Like fire, the red lightsabers of the Sith Lords scurried through the Jedi Temple along with their masters, laying waste to everything they met.

The young Nautolan fought as valiantly as he could, but inwardly he was terrified. He knew academically of the brutality of the Sith, but feeling his friends die all around him as he fended for his own survival was almost enough to break him.

One of the Masters told the survivors to flee, to evacuate the Temple.

The Nautolan escaped through a tunnel into the upper levels of the Works just in time to feel a tremor in the ground, followed by a wave of death in the Force.

The Sacking of Coruscant had begun, and the Jedi Temple was destroyed.

As the stones fell and plunged her into utter darkness, Faith knew that the worst was yet to come.

Her hand was warm with blood. She held a stake that was now dripping with the blood of Allan Finch.

She turned around and was in an apartment, and she stabbed a demon in the gut to acquire the Books of Ascension.

She felt her hands let the arrow fly and shoot the man who had brought the Box of Gavrok.

Her hand cradled the knife up against Professor Worth's throat just before she killed him.

She invaded Buffy's home and knocked Joyce out cold.

She watched her body with Buffy inside be carried away by the cops. Five by five.

She danced the night away without a care in the world. She saw Willow's new girl and made it her duty to make the shy blonde miserable.

She dusted a vamp and saw the admiration and thanks for Buffy's help.

She took Buffy's boyfriend and screwed him, and he told Buffy that he loved her.

She looked into her soul and found an abyss that hungered for the sweet release of death.

She tortured Wesley Wyndham-Pryce with all manner of instruments blunt and sharp, with just a taste of excessive heat as well.

She tried to get Angel to kill her, but he didn't.

She faced Buffy on the rooftop. The blonde slayer stared her down, relentless. Faith was judged, and she was found wanting.

"I gave you every chance!" Buffy shouted, and Faith felt the sting of the truth that she could never make up for. "I tried so hard to help you, and you spat on me!"

Faith tried to find the words to apologize, to try and make things right. She just needed to say something, anything to make this go away, but her voice would not cooperate.

"I've lost battles before," Buffy went on. "But nobody else has _ever_ made me a victim."

It hurt more than she could put into words to hear Buffy's hate like this again. It was so fresh and raw that Faith had to remind herself that this was in the past. This had come and gone. This was just some sort of torture that the alien temple was…

The temple! This was all its doing! There was some intangible malevolence at work. That had to be it!

Faith remembered what she had said about the darkness. "You only have as much power as I give you. Well, no more!"

The illusion shattered, and Faith fell to her knees, her chest heaving for air.

Around her, she felt her three companions likewise regaining their composure.

And directly in front of her was a pale white Hutt with blood red eyes that just felt wrong on every level. It was completely unlike an albino human. Faith had seen pictures of albinos before, and they didn't have the wrinkles and mottled skin and creeping veins popping out in strange places. This Hutt was like Anev Xydes had been back in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, only the corruption in this thing was a thousand times darker and more powerful.

The Hutt laughed, and its voice was not the booming sound of other Hutts, but a higher-pitched sound that had a distorted quality to it.

"Most impressive!" the pale Hutt said, and Faith knew it was speaking in an alien language that was neither Basic nor Huttese, and yet she understood it. "Such strength, such power. You will make excellent servants. Far better than the other weaklings that came before."

Faith got to her feet, not caring to listen to the villain go on a monologue rant, and then she saw it. Behind the pale Hutt was a map of the galaxy that clearly extended the path that they had been following.

The pale Hutt noticed her attentions. "You find something about this map appealing, human girl?"

"We have seen another like it," Ralto said as he got to his feet. "Do you know what it leads to?"

The Hutt laughed again. "Of course, I do! This map leads to the revenge of my people against the betrayers. It leads to the Purge Engine."

"Is that a weapon of some kind?" Tal asked as he fumbled his assault cannon.

The pale Hutt scrutinized the four of them, and Faith realized that this thing was no Hutt. There was something else inside the massive body, she could feel it. Whatever it was, it was far more evil than the other Hutts she had met so far. Hutts were creatures of greed and corpulence. This thing was a being of pure malevolence.

"It is the ultimate revenge of the Rakata!" the not-Hutt cried. "For countless ages, I have sat in this pathetic being's ancestors, each of which gave birth to a tiny offspring which I then possessed. I have waited so long to see the work of the Purge Engine completed. This body, however, is not suited to travel beyond this room.

"But you have brought me four new bodies! Finally, we will have our long overdue revenge!"

The not-Hutt gathered the Force about itself, and Faith knew that despite the massive being's likely inability to move, it was a dire threat.

"Faith!" Ralto shouted. "Download the map and get out of here! Get back to the Jedi and warn them about this! I'll distract it!"

Faith fell in line without question. "Tal, Vira, cover me! Keep that thing off of us!"

Summoning a datapad from Tal's belt with the Force, Faith sprinted towards the galaxy map at the back of the room.

Bursts of bright lightning began to fill the room, and Faith felt the blasts growing closer to her even as she ran.

With a jump powered by the Force, Faith leaped over the massive pale Hutt's body and behind the galaxy map. The download initiated in a spiral of bright light as it had before.

Vira and Tal were running back and forth while keeping up steady blaster fire on the not-Hutt, dodging blasts of lightning that the creature sent their way. Ralto had both of his hands raised and seemed to be waging a battle of invisible Force energies against the creature. Whatever he was doing, it was obviously taxing him greatly.

Faith watched the data spiral into the pad. In and in and in it went until…

"Done!" Faith grabbed the pad. "Let's get out of here!"

"Suppressing fire!" Tal shouted, and Vira followed his lead. "Faith, get out of here! We're right behind you!"

"The hell you are!" Faith shouted. "We all go now! Come on, Ralto, we gotta split."

"No, Faith."

The Nautolan Master's words cut Faith like a hot knife through butter, and she sensed his determination in the Force.

The pale not-Hutt roared in anger. "You will not escape! You will not stop the Purge Engine!" it cried.

Ralto looked at Faith as he seemed to hold the creature's onslaught of lightning at bay with his bare hands. "My time has come, Faith. This mission is more important than any one of us. Word has to make it to the Jedi and the Republic. Now, go!"

Faith shook her head. "Not without you! We stick together, you hear me! I am not leaving you to die, Ralto!"

The sharp, high-pitched hiss of the lightning grew greater as the not-Hutt howled with fury.

The blue-skinned Nautolan smiled a wide white smile. "You will always be stubborn, Faith, but your compassion is unmatched. Spread that love that you have in abundance and make the galaxy a better place."

Faith was not hearing this. She wouldn't. "You don't have to do this!"

"We all have our choices to make and our destinies to face. This is mine. Major, Lieutenant, get Faith out of here while you still can!"

Faith felt the sadness and the resignation in the two bodies that came up and grabbed her from behind.

"No! Dammit, we can't just leave him! Let me go!" Faith screamed as she was dragged helplessly away from the maelstrom. Faith might have been a Force-powered Slayer, but the two soldiers were themselves quite strong, and they weren't letting Faith get any leverage to pry herself free from their grasp.

Even as the light and heat of the battle grew distant, Faith swore she could still hear Ralto's voice. "You've made me so proud, Faith. You will do many more great things in your life. Do not grieve, Faith. There is no death. There is only the Force."

"NO!"

Faith's cry was met with an explosion of energy that tossed her, Tal, and Vira all the way past the twin statues and out of the temple proper to land on the ramp outside on the surface of Nar Shaddaa.

She felt Tal and Vira try to get her to move, to get back to the speeder and to get out of there before anything else showed up to try and kill them, but Faith had no room in her heart for anything but sadness and tears. The Force told her the horrible truth, so what else could she feel?

Master Ralto Nalarn of the Jedi Order was dead.


	23. Buffy XI - Changing of the Guard

**Buffy XI - Changing of the Guard**

* * *

The Jawas' minds were still under Buffy's thrall, and she directed them to take her back to Anchorhead with haste. They obeyed without resistance, and Buffy and Thriss tended to Dalen's burnt body on the way back. Buffy almost felt guilty about controlling the Jawas in such a manner, but she quickly reassured her conscience by reminding herself that she had treated other demons far more violently in the past. This was mild by comparison.

For most of the journey back, Thriss guided Dalen into a form of meditation that she had learned while serving in the Chiss military, and the process had the unexpected benefit of healing the pair of them from the burns inflicted by Buffy's conjured storm of lightning.

By the time the sandcrawler had reached Anchorhead, Dalen was able to walk with only minor pain, and Thriss's pain was gone entirely. Buffy remembered her former master remarking that Thriss had a Jedi-like knack for healing, and Thriss had taken it as a compliment.

The _Bronze_ was orbiting Tatooine, and Buffy was glad to be rid of the desert world. She ordered Dalen to rest in his bunk until he was feeling completely well again. He put up only a mild protest before succumbing to Buffy's demands.

As the ship's droid kept the _Bronze_ on a steady course away from Tatooine, Buffy went to Thriss's berth to talk, feeling just a tad bit nervous.

The door was open, but Buffy knocked on the metal all the same. "Hey," she said with a small smile.

"Lord Su… Sorry. Buffy, what is it?"

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," Buffy said as she invited herself in. "I let myself lose control with that storm back there, and you and Shar both got hurt. I just want you to know that I didn't mean it. I would never try to hurt you, ever. Or Shar."

Thriss positively beamed at Buffy. "I know you would not do such a thing. Your power is immense, and it is enviable. I always knew that the gifts I possessed set me apart from other Chiss, but until you rescued me, Buffy, I was stuck within a system that did not appreciate me."

"Well, don't worry," Buffy said with a smile. "I certainly appreciate you."

"Thank you," Thriss said softly. "My own parents did not understand me. I was an only child, and I was young when I first became aware of my abilities. My mother was a diplomat and my father was a soldier, and we visited a space station somewhere near the Imperial capital. I never set foot on Dromund Kaas or on Korriban save for a trip or two my mother made when I was still nursing. But the space station with its high ceilings and deep pits made of cold metal with red and black banners… Even now it seemed designed to intimidate."

Thriss shook her head. "It was nothing to be afraid of in hindsight. I was only a child, and the Empire was strange to me. And yet as my parents and I were leaving the station, I swore I could feel our escort looking at us with disgust, or at the very least disdain. I commented on it, leaving both the escort and my parents flustered, though for different reasons. The Imperial made a point of showing a deep amount of false respect, and my parents apologized on behalf of their precocious young daughter."

Buffy nodded as she listened to Thriss's story. "That must've been scary. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that if that's the first time you were around other Force-users, then that might have awakened something inside of you."

"Perhaps," Thriss said thoughtfully. "What about you, Buffy? When did you first come into your own with the Force?"

"With the Force?" Buffy repeated. "I don't know, exactly. I've always been stronger, faster, more durable, etcetera. Well, not always, but since I was about fifteen years old. I ended up on Denova a few months ago, maybe a bit more. Ever since then, I've been able to tap into the Force. I don't know how or why, but that's when it started for me. I was taken to Korriban as a prisoner and then released into Shar's care as his student."

Thriss arched a thin black eyebrow. "I notice you have begun calling Lord Dalen by his first name on a more regular basis. Is this permissible?"

Buffy smirked as she sensed the true feelings behind Thriss's words. Shar Dalen was a handsome man with charm and manners. The appeal was undeniable. "I admire him as a friend," Buffy conceded, "but that's not why you're asking, is it? Be honest with me, Thriss."

The lovely Chiss woman squirmed a bit at Buffy's tone, and it was so adorable. "I confess that I find myself attracted to you, Buffy. It is not appropriate for a student to lust after her mentor, but I cannot help myself."

Buffy took in Thriss's words and wondered silently about her own feelings. She hadn't thought that she could find a woman to be sexually appealing. Vague dreams featuring Faith aside, Buffy had always thought that she would end up with a man. Thriss was quite exotic, however. She might have been labeled a demon back on Earth, but her form was human even if her skin and eyes were not.

"It is more than lust, too," Thriss continued. "You are strong and decisive and intelligent. More than that, you are kind and gentle and loving. I… I admire you a great deal, Buf-"

"Shh," Buffy said quietly as she put a finger to Thriss's lips. The Slayer felt what she felt, and there was no point in denying it. "No more talking, Thriss. Come here."

Thriss obeyed without question and moved the few feet to meet Buffy in the center of the small room. Both women were on their feet and swiftly had their arms wrapped around each other as their lips locked in a passionate kiss. It was clear that Thriss was not an experienced lover, but Buffy was gentle and patient with her as she made awkward efforts with her tongue.

Smiling inwardly, Buffy reached out with the Force and closed the door to the bunk. She and Thriss had matters of great importance to discuss.

It was quite a discussion, indeed.

After almost two hours of what Buffy had once called 'Bible study,' the blonde Slayer found herself fully dressed again and checking in on Dalen.

His door was open, and he was reading a book in what Buffy recognized as an ancient Sith dialect. He looked well enough.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking," Dalen said with a wry smile as he looked up from his book.

Buffy had the good grace to blush. He always seemed to be able to read her surface thoughts, much to her continuing chagrin. "Sorry. I was just checking in. How are you feeling?"

"My pride is suffering after being allowed to live by an apprentice who is more powerful than I am, but I will survive that, I hope. As to my body, the pain is mostly gone. Thriss seems to have a talent for healing, it seems."

Buffy smiled at the thought of what Thriss could do with a more thorough knowledge of human anatomy. "So it would seem. Are you okay with that?"

"I suppose I should be," he answered. "Were it not for her help, I would likely still be crippled with pain. Now, I feel entirely healed and rested. And now, it is time to stop dallying around and get on with business. I must make a call to Darth Arctis and inform him of our progress."

Buffy sneered. "Oh, joy. And now I have to resume the part of the lowly apprentice. Can we kill him soon? Pretty please?" Human he might be, but Buffy had killed humans before. The Knights of Byzantium had been fanatics, and that had been a fight for survival. Caleb, on the other hand, for all of his power and strength, had been a human being who had delved so far into evil that he had to be killed. Arctis was no different.

Dalen snorted. "Still your impatience, Buffy. Things will happen when they happen."

Buffy pouted and followed after Dalen towards the holoprojector in the center of the ship's common area.

"Thriss," Buffy called out. "Stay out of sight for just a bit. We're checking in with Darth Arctis."

"As you wish, Buffy," Thriss called back.

Buffy felt herself grow warm inside at Thriss's choice of words. It was simultaneously romantic and empowering, reminding the Slayer of 'The Princess Bride.'

Dalen snickered. "You will never learn to keep your feelings in check, Buffy. Your enemies will exploit such transparent emotions if you let them."

"Then I won't let them," Buffy replied smoothly.

"Hmph. Indeed," Dalen said as he punched in the commands for the transmission.

When the connection established, Buffy was surprised to see a different Sith looking back at them. Where Arctis was an elderly human with sickly pale skin that was visible even in hologram form, this Sith was a human who looked rather healthy for a man of middle age, and he had a circular tattoo surrounding his right eye.

"Lord Dalen, I presume?" the Sith said.

"Yes," Dalen answered carefully. "I'm afraid you have me at a loss."

The other Sith chuckled in a way that just reeked of condescension. "Forgive my lack of manners. I am Darth Thanaton. Darth Arctis is preoccupied, and has left the handling of most of his affairs to me for the time being. I assume you have an update on the alien ruin on Tatooine?"

Buffy mused that Thanaton was at the very least a well-informed minion.

"Yes, my Lord," Dalen acknowledged. "We were able to find the ruin and excavate its knowledge with minimal effort."

"Who is 'we,' Lord Dalen?"

"My apprentice and I," Dalen said without hesitation.

"Ah, yes. Your apprentice is this girl here, I take it," Thanaton said as he shifted his gaze to Buffy. "You're the girl who wants to see Darth Arctis dead, if I recall. He seemed quite amused by the prospect when he mentioned it to me."

Buffy gritted her teeth. "I'm sure he did, my Lord." It took all of her restraint not to say something that would end with her being choked to death.

Thanaton chuckled. "Indeed. Before you continue your search for the Purge Engine, Lord Dalen, I would like to speak with you and your apprentice in person. Meet me at the Citadel on Dromund Kaas as soon as possible. Thanaton out."

The transmission cut out abruptly.

Buffy let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "What do you think this is about?"

Dalen also let out a held breath. "I can only speculate, and I do not care to do so right now. Right now, we must make for Dromund Kaas with all possible speed. You may want to tell Thriss to remain on the ship while we are there. Neither Arctis nor Thanaton is aware of her existence yet beyond a report from Csilla about the first ruin."

Buffy shook her head angrily. She was Sith: She was the one who had both power and the will to use that power. "No, no more hiding. I'm sick of playing by other people's rules. I am Sith! I make my own rules, and I say that we are more powerful with Thriss than we are without. Am I clear, Lord Dalen?" she challenged harshly.

To his credit, Dalen did not blink or flinch. "Perfectly. Now, if you will excuse me, I must take us to Dromund Kaas."

* * *

"So this is the capital of the Empire."

"What do you think of it, Thriss?" Buffy asked as they walked through the streets of Kaas City.

"It is not as hot as Tatooine, but it is far more damp. The water is not just pouring down as rain: It is seeping into my skin and my clothing from the air itself. I have read about humidity in archaeological journals. Experiencing it personally is not nearly as pleasant."

"One grows used to it after a time," Dalen reassured her. "Come. We must take a speeder to the Citadel."

As the three Force-users walked along the metal walkways of Kaas City, Buffy noticed that Thriss could not help but stare at the buildings that seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky, nor could she look away from the chasms that seemed to sink deep into the Earth, despite parts of Kaas City being at ground level.

"Makes you wonder if they hollowed out the ground beneath the city," Buffy said idly.

"From what I have read about your Empire, it would not surprise me," Thriss answered.

A security droid cleared the three of them for access to the Citadel after Dalen explained that Thriss was an envoy from the Chiss Ascendancy. A speeder on auto-pilot carried them across a giant chasm to the towering Imperial Citadel that seemed to exist as an enormous cliff made entirely of metal.

A horned, red-skinned Zabrak slave greeted them and led the group into the Sith Sanctum towards a library full of numerous tomes, datapads, and holocrons.

They were not kept waiting long. "Ah, good. You are here," Thanaton said as he walked over to them from the next aisle over. "And you have brought a Chiss with you?" he said coldly. "Explain."

"My Lord Thanaton," Dalen said with all due propriety, "this is my other apprentice: Mitth'ris'sintar, though she prefers to be addressed by her core name of Thriss."

The Chiss bowed politely from the waist. "I am honored to make your acquaintance, my Lord."

Thanaton raised an eyebrow quietly. "An alien apprentice, Lord Dalen? One who is keen to 'make my acquaintance?'"

"Please forgive her impropriety, my Lord," Dalen said. "The Chiss do not number many Force-users, nor have they ever. They are our allies, however, and Thriss was instrumental in finding and excavating the ruins both on Csilla and on Tatooine. As for her manners, she is not used to Imperial customs. She is very intelligent, however. I have no doubts that she will go far if given the opportunity."

Thanaton scowled, and Buffy got the impression that he did not like non-humans. "At least she is a free woman of an allied nation. The same, alas, cannot be said for Zash's upstart apprentice."

Buffy didn't know who Zash was, so she stayed silent. Neither Dalen nor Thriss spoke either.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Thanaton sighed. "This will do, I suppose. I have asked you here because I believe that my hour is finally at hand. I am about to ascend to the Dark Council, and I will do so with your help."

"My Lord?" Dalen asked carefully.

"Listen and do not interrupt," Thanaton said. "Darth Arctis was once a great Sith Lord. In some ways he still is, but he has let the Dark Side of the Force ravage him. He is losing his sanity more and more every day, and his body is beginning to betray him. I have waited for too long to let this opportunity be squandered. The Force has mastered him, where a true Sith would reverse that equation. For all his weakness, however, he is still quite powerful."

"So, you want us to kill him for you," Buffy intuited aloud. "Then you can come in and take his place."

"Quite," Thanaton agreed. "And yet it is more than that. Arctis fears you, Summers, though he would never admit it aloud. He sensed your potential and knew that you had the power to surpass him. I sense you may have done so already. If you defeat him, you will be recognized as a Lord of the Sith, and you will have my personal favor. Through me, you will have the ear of the Dark Council."

Buffy smirked. "And what's to stop me from killing you right after I take care of Arctis?" she challenged.

Thanaton merely chuckled. "A great many things, young one. There is much you have yet to learn, though you possess great raw power. That is not enough to hold onto a seat on the Dark Council, but it is enough to slay an old man who has outlived his usefulness. You, Lord Dalen, would rise in stature along with your apprentice, and young Thriss here would have access to training and knowledge that would otherwise be forbidden to such a pupil."

Buffy felt a heat rising in her chest, and she was eager to do what Thanaton wanted. A puppet she might be, but at least her strings were agreeable. "Master," Buffy said carefully, remembering her place, "do you think that this is the best option?"

"It is, apprentice, our only option," Dalen replied dryly.

"Excellent," Thanaton said with an evil smile. "You will find Darth Arctis in his study. I trust you remember the way."

"We do, my Lord," Dalen said.

"Very good. Go now. I will be watching from somewhere not too far away," Thanaton said. With a wave of his hand, the air rippled in front of him as he shimmered into invisibility.

"Neat trick," Buffy said. "Come on, let's do this."

"We need a plan, Summers," Dalen scolded her.

"The Force will guide us, Master. Thriss, you should wait outside the office and let us draw his attention. Don't make yourself known until you have a clean shot you can take at him. And remember: You have the Force on your side. You can't miss if you make it work for you."

Thriss nodded. "I understand, Buffy."

"Good. Let's go kill a Dark Councilor."

* * *

Buffy stormed forward through the Citadel, keeping her strides long to keep up with Dalen and his accursed longer legs. Buffy could have increased her speed with the Force, but she wanted to save her energy for the fight. Thriss followed quietly behind her, and Buffy sensed that Thanaton was not too far behind, either.

A red-skinned Sith woman in apprentice's robes stood outside the door to Arctis's office. "Halt. State your business," she demanded.

"I am Lord Dalen, and I bring a report for Darth Arctis. Step aside," he said imperiously.

"I'm sorry, my Lord, but Darth Arctis has asked not to be disturbed unless it is a matter of importance vital to Imperial security," the apprentice said patiently. "Please come back later."

Buffy could sense the Sith's contempt for the three of them for not being pure-blooded Sith. The smugness and arrogance of the apprentice really pissed Buffy off. "No, we'll see him now," Buffy said coldly.

The red Sith moved to draw her lightsaber, but was too slow to react as Buffy drew her own weapon and sliced the woman across the stomach, cutting her in half. The dying thoughts of the apprentice were of indignation that a meager human girl had gotten in a lucky blow.

Buffy smirked with satisfaction at having dispensed justice to another evil soul and disengaged her lightsaber. She kept the hilt in her hand, ready to use it again.

Dalen nodded appreciatively at his apprentice before walking forward into Arctis's study. Buffy remembered Imperial Guards standing vigil at their last meeting with Darth Arctis. Their absence told her that the Emperor didn't expect much more from Arctis.

Inside the small study, pacing back and forth in front of a desk, Darth Arctis was clearly agitated.

"You!" he barked harshly when he finally saw them. "I remember you. You were looking into some archaeological find for me, weren't you? A purging device of some sort, yes?"

"I was," Dalen said politely, not offering anything more.

"And you," Arctis said, pointing at Buffy. "You seem familiar. You wanted to kill me, didn't you?"

"You know it," Buffy replied cheerfully. "I haven't forgotten what you did back on Korriban. Time to pay."

"Ha!" Arctis laughed like a madman as Buffy and Dalen ignited their red lightsabers. "I remember, now. You killed those two weakling apprentices before they could cut you down. I ordered you to do so, but yours was the hand that killed them. Why are you so angry at me for giving you orders?"

"Shut up!" Buffy screamed, refusing to listen to this evil man's poisonous words. "You made me a killer!" she cried.

"Ah, but you kept yourself that way," Arctis said gleefully. "My apprentice outside… I felt you kill her. I felt you kill her gladly. In a way, I suppose, I am responsible for her death."

Buffy was too angry to listen to the madman any longer. "And now, you're responsible for your own death!" she cried as she lunged at him.

Arctis drew his own lightsaber and ignited it at both ends. As Buffy struck one blade, Dalen moved to strike where the other blade was absent.

Arctis parried both blows and danced backwards, hopping over the desk and sending lightning at Buffy in midair.

Buffy caught the lightning on her lightsaber before jumping through the air to land behind Arctis.

One of his red blades was there to meet her own, and Dalen pressed his advantage on Arctis's front.

Arctis's use of the Dark Side of the Force might have driven him mad, but he was still an exceptional combatant. When Buffy went high, Arctis's blade was there. If Dalen went low, his blade was deflected by the other end of the Dark Councilor's lightstaff. If he tried to go high along with Buffy, however, a bolt of Force lightning was waiting for him.

At the very least, Buffy and Dalen managed to keep Arctis on the defensive. But one did not become a Darth, let alone a Dark Councilor, without learning a few nasty tricks.

Arctis twirled his blade in front of him at such speed that it looked as if he was protected by a shield of red energy. Slowly, he drove Buffy and Dalen backwards before finally pushing out with the Force and shoving them away from him.

They landed on their feet, but Arctis had already raised both hands to summon a storm of lightning upon both of his assailants.

Buffy remembered her own loss of control on Tatooine, and she was not about to let Shar get hurt by such a thing again. While Dalen put up a Force shield to hold the lightning at bay for a short time, Buffy reached out with the Force and grabbed a number of old flimsiplast tomes off the shelves in the study and hurled them directly into the path of the lightning.

As the fragile sources of ancient Sith knowledge erupted into flames, Arctis felt shock and horror for a fraction of a second before his anger reasserted itself with a vengeance. The moment's distraction was enough to get free of the lightning storm, and Buffy and Dalen charged into melee against Arctis once more.

The Dark Lord was furious now, and that anger gave him power. It was also making him reckless, just as Buffy had hoped it would. As the two comrades pushed their luck against Arctis, he held his ground. Buffy realized that it was remarkable that they had survived thus far, let alone managed to keep Arctis mostly on defense.

A moment of intuition – a hint from the Force, perhaps – told Buffy that now was the time to make her move.

Buffy sent a mental nudge towards Dalen, and the two of them began to shift their feet to move to the sides of the room.

Arctis kept up his impossible defense, but even with his battle fury, he was having difficulty landing anything more than a glancing blow on either of his opponents. It was almost a stalemate.

A moment later, Thriss popped out from behind the door and fired her charric at Arctis.

With Buffy on one side of the Dark Councilor, Dalen on the other, and a blue blast of energy coming his way, Arctis instinctively positioned his blades to intercept all three sources of energy.

Buffy reached out and nudged Arctis's lightsaber subtly with the Force so that Thriss's charric blast caught the hilt right in the center, breaking it and causing his blades to disengage.

Just as the blast hit Arctis square in the chest, Buffy and Dalen each lopped off one of the Dark Lord's arms.

A small whoosh of air behind them was Buffy's only notice that Darth Thanaton had joined the ranks of the visible once more.

"Well done, all of you. Well done," Thanaton said as he strode forward.

"Thanaton," Arctis hissed as he fell to his knees. "This is your doing?"

The ascendant Sith Lord shook his head. "You laid the pieces on the table. I merely put them together. And now, you are undone."

With a gesture of his hand, Thanaton snapped Arctis's neck, and he fell to the floor. He was dead.

"Damn," Buffy said quietly. "I wanted to be the one to kill him." And she truly had wanted that, she realized. Despite her usual reluctance to kill humans, Buffy found herself surprisingly okay with the knowledge that she wanted to kill a man.

"It had to be this way," Thanaton explained. "Tradition dictates that the student must kill the master to assume his place. I had to involve myself directly before he died in at least some way."

"You're big on tradition, I'm guessing?" Buffy said.

"You guess correctly," Thanaton said with a grin. "And because I am in such a good mood, I will allow the impropriety to pass this time. Kneel, Apprentice Summers."

Buffy looked to Dalen, who nodded quietly. She didn't like this game with its ancient rules, but this was not her world, so Buffy lowered herself to one knee and kept her eyes focused on Thanaton.

"Buffy Summers, for your service to the Empire, and to me personally, you are granted the title of Lord of the Sith. In times such as this, many Sith choose to take on a new name to show that they have grown beyond what they once were."

The new Sith Lord thought about keeping her own name, as Dalen had done, but then she remembered a promise she had made to the pathetic Sith noble son, Loslar, back at the Academy on Korriban. "I choose the name, 'Lord Sunhome," Buffy said. As before, when she had dressed down the lowly acolyte months ago, her thoughts strayed back to a small California town that once upon a time stood on the Mouth of Hell.

"Very well," Thanaton said. "Rise, Lord Sunhome."

Buffy smiled as she felt herself vindicated. After waiting for so long to kill Darth Arctis, the deed was finally done. His words about her being a killer had rattled her a bit, but Buffy quickly assured herself that Arctis had been an evil man who deserved what he had gotten. That mollified her conscience enough to dispel any self-doubt that might have been lingering around.

"Now then," Thanaton said, "tell me about these ruins you have found, Lord Sunhome."

Buffy continued to smile as she relayed all that she knew. She was a Lord of the Sith at last, and she decided that she rather liked it.


	24. Faith XI - Mourning

**Faith XI - Mourning**

* * *

Tal had picked up Faith and carried her over his shoulder back to the speeder and set her in the back seat of the passenger cabin. Vira took the gunner's seat while Tal flew them back to the spaceport. For the entire flight back, even while under attack from swoop gangs and wild beasts, Faith did something she hadn't done since she'd hit her lowest low in a back alley in Los Angeles years ago.

Faith cried. She wept for the emptiness she felt all around her. Ralto had been more than a familiar face: He had been a familiar presence. His existence in the Force was something almost tangible for Faith, and she realized now that she had taken it for granted all this time.

And now, Ralto was dead. Gone forever.

Ralto might have believed that there was no death. Faith wanted to believe that he survived in the Force somehow, but she was too wracked with grief to even begin to search for him. Meditation would help if anything would.

Faith hated herself as the speeder landed on the Promenade. She let Tal and Vira guide her back to their ship, but all she could think of was how horrible she had been to Ralto and how good he had been to her.

The Nautolan Jedi Master had put up with her endless flights of whimsy, her distinctly un-Jedi-like attitude, her overall lack of respect for him and his position, and he had tolerated all of her faults while still being able to return a smile in her direction.

The man had had the patience of a saint, Faith mused as Tal led her into the ship and laid her down on her bed. Faith still remembered the first time she had seen him. It had been when she'd first been plucked from Earth and deposited on Denova. She had thought that Ralto was a demon and had tried to kill him.

He not only forgave her, but he took her under his wing and trained her to be a Jedi Knight. The notion caused Faith to laugh a mirthless sound. She was no Jedi. Jedi were heroes: The best of the best.

Ralto had been a true Jedi. He'd died a hero's death.

And what was Faith next to such greatness? She was once more the screw-up; the failure; the one who got good people killed because she wasn't strong enough to save them.

Someone knocked on the open door.

Faith looked up and saw Tal looking down at her. He was in casual garb and had no armor or weapons on him. "Mind if I come in?" he asked kindly.

"Door's open." Even if Earth was nowhere to be found, Faith wasn't about to issue an open invitation to anyone.

Thankfully, Tal took the statement as it was intended and entered her small cabin. Faith propped herself up to a seated position and moved to the side so that Tal could sit down next to her.

"Master Ralto was a good man," Tal said softly. "I didn't talk with him much, and I didn't know him well, but he always seemed like a fair-minded man with a good heart. I'll miss him, too."

Faith shook her head and tried to blink away the tears that threatened to well up and burst out again. "I was such an ass," she said. "I treated him like shit, and he died to let me live."

"Faith," Tal said, taking her hand in his, "you might be a colorful personality, but you never did wrong by any of us. Hell, you treated Master Ralto kinda like a kid might treat her dad. Good-natured humor, right?"

"Like a dad?" The thought hadn't occurred to Faith before, but the more she pondered it, the more it made sense. Her relationship with Ralto hadn't been like what she'd had with Mayor Wilkins, but it had been a familial sort of thing in its own way.

"I guess he was kinda like Giles was to B," Faith said.

"Who?" Tal asked.

"Sorry. B is Buffy. She's sort of my… What do I call her? She's like me. We're both Slayers, and I guess you'd call us frenemies. Any given day, we'll be chilling together or else going at each others' throats. We're close to each other: Really close. It's a hard thing to explain."

"That's fine," Tal said kindly. "Who's Giles?"

"Right," Faith said. "Giles was Buffy's Watcher. He was the one in charge of training her, looking after her, making sure she survived long enough to be able to fight the good fight on her own. And also, I think he was kinda like a dad for her. B's real dad was a sleazebag who ditched his family for his hot secretary. A walking cliché, I know, but there it is. Giles was there for her, and she turned out all right."

Tal smiled warmly and tightened his gentle grip on Faith's hand. "I think you're right. I think Master Ralto was your Watcher, as you put it."

That made Faith look up. She met Tal's eyes and found warmth and kindness looking back at her. "My Watcher?" Faith had had only one Watcher that she'd had any real respect for, and Diana Dormer had been killed by the vampire, Kakistos, before Faith could truly benefit from her tutelage.

Giles had been too focused on Buffy to help Faith with what she needed by the time she dropped by Sunnydale. Gwendolyn Post had been a fraud and a psychopath, and then Wesley Wyndham-Pryce turned out to be a little sissy who didn't know anything about how things really worked. At least Wesley had managed to grow up and grow a pair before he died fighting.

And Ralto… Ralto had filled the role of Watcher without Faith even realizing it until now. Faith had never had a father – her real dad had been behind bars for most of her life without her ever knowing him – and even the Mayor didn't count. He was sort of an evil Watcher. Faith didn't know what having a dad was like, but a Watcher was the next best thing, and Ralto had been that for her.

And now he was gone.

"It's all my fault."

"What? Faith, don't be silly," Tal said.

"What's silly about it?" Faith said angrily. "If I'd stayed behind and fought, if I'd helped, I could have saved him! I abandoned him to die!"

"You listen to me, Faith!" Tal yelled.

Faith was never one to take trash talk from anyone, but after losing the closest thing to a father she'd ever had, Faith was stunned into silence.

"You listen to me," Tal repeated more softly. "You did everything you could. You got the intel we needed, you got out with it, and you certainly did not abandon anyone. You would have died back there with Master Ralto if he hadn't told Vira and me to grab you and drag you out of there kicking and screaming. You didn't do anything wrong, Faith. You did everything right. Unfortunately, that isn't always enough."

Tal stood up and put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "We're on our way to Tython. It'll be a few hours, so get some sleep. You'll feel better after you get some rest."

Faith looked up at the big soldier with a small smile on her face. "You're a nice guy, Tal. How do you stay so good after all the shit that happens to everyone in this galaxy? How do you keep it from knocking you down?"

"I don't," Tal said with a smile of his own. "The trick isn't to never get knocked down, Faith. The trick is to keep getting back up as many times as you have to. The only person who can keep you down is you."

Faith laughed. "You sound like a Jedi, Tal."

"Oh no," Tal said with a warm chuckle. "I'm just a man with a giant gun, trying to do the right thing. Get some rest, Faith."

"Thanks, Tal. And… Thank you for saving my life back there. It hurts like hell, but I learned a long time ago that dying before your time is the easy way out. I don't want to take the easy way out, so thanks."

"Anytime, Faith." Tal smiled as he left Faith's cabin and closed the door behind him.

Faith tried to meditate for a few minutes, but she couldn't bring herself to the level of calm needed. Feeling quite defeated, Faith lied down, closed her eyes, and let sleep take her.

* * *

The streets of Los Angeles were darker than Faith remembered them. The lamps didn't shine as bright and the moon was hidden from view.

Faith walked down into the alley as the rain poured down from above. She saw herself brawling with Angel as she hit her lowest low.

"You hear me?!" Faith saw herself yell as her memory-self kept pounding Angel with her fists. "You don't know what evil is!"

Angel defended himself without striking back at Faith. She remembered wanting so badly for him to punish her.

"I'm bad!" she yelled. "Fight back!"

Angel grabbed her. "Nice try, Faith."

They scuffled again and Faith saw herself go flying back. Angel followed.

"I know what you want." Another bout of fighting. "I'm not gonna make it easy for you."

That had been the last straw. Faith saw and remembered herself throwing herself at Angel in a tirade of nearly incoherent fury, rage, and despair.

"I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil! Do you hear me?! I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad!"

And now the rage began to ebb and the tears began to flow.

"I'm bad," Faith heard herself say through her growing sobs. "Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! Please. Angel, please, just do it."

Now was the part that Faith only vaguely remembered as Wesley coming out of the building, ready to aid Angel if need be.

This time, however, it was Master Ralto who came out of the building. He held no weapon, and he did not run or show any signs of the torture she'd inflicted on Wesley when the scene in front of her had actually played out. Ralto just walked over to stand beside Faith as she watched herself fall into Angel's arms.

"Angel please, just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me."

Faith felt a blue Nautolan hand on her own shoulder as she saw the memory of herself and Angel falling to the ground as she sobbed helplessly into the vampire's shoulder.

"I never knew," Ralto said softly. "Faith, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "I was bad. I had to hit rock bottom to come back up at all. Seems like forever ago, but here I am again."

"Again?" Ralto asked kindly.

Faith let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. "Yeah, again. You died on my watch, Ralto. I failed, just like I always fail. I don't want to keep messing up, and I figure the best way to make sure of that would just be to… Well, you saw, right?"

"I did, Faith. I saw."

"Yeah, I told Tal that I learned my lesson about not giving up. Truth is that it ain't that easy to get back up again when you've just lost your Watcher."

"I heard that conversation," Ralto said gently. "You truly saw me as a fatherly sort of person. I can't say I ever expected that, Faith, but I'm both honored and flattered."

Faith laughed humorlessly. "I am so messed up. Having this conversation with my own twisted psyche. What is up with this, anyway? Why are you here?"

Ralto shrugged. "Perhaps I'm more than just a figment of your imagination. There is no death, Faith. All things are possible in the Force."

Faith looked anew at her deceased Master and saw his eyes glimmer with contentment as he smiled graciously.

"Is… Is that really you, Master?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself, to be honest," Ralto said. "I'm one with the Force now, but whether it is truly me talking to you or else some other manifestation of the Force, I could not say. I do know that you haven't called me 'Master' in quite some time."

Faith chuckled. "Well, you really were a Jedi Master. You kept trying to teach me, and I didn't listen. I just wish you didn't have to die for me to see what you were all about."

"Death is not the end of us, Faith," Ralto said as his hand caressed Faith's cheek. "You see things in me now that you did not see before, and you carry such a capacity for love and goodness inside you that I can never truly die. You will love and pass on your kindness to others, and they in turn will pay that goodwill forward, and the cycle will keep going. That is all I can hope for, and I know you won't fail, Faith."

"How can you know that?" Faith asked with trepidation. "How can you know I'll be anything other than a fu… Sorry. A screw-up. How can you be so sure I won't just be a screw-up like every time before?"

"I know, Faith, because I see you even now in the Force. You shine so brightly, and you always have. You have a shadow, but all beings do. That darkness is a part of you, and it always will be. Your determination to move forward, to do good and to make up for your past… That makes you great."

Faith shook her head. "It'll never be enough. There's no end to repenting. I'll never be fully clean."

"That doesn't change the fact that you want to do what is right," Ralto said kindly. "You want to help people, and you want to make sure that nobody suffers what you suffered through. Some people say that suffering builds character, and while I would never wish the pain you have suffered upon anyone, you have emerged from that pain as a strong and beautiful woman with a heart full of goodness and love. I have never had another student like you, and I am proud to call you a friend."

Faith could barely stand anymore. She leaned into the blue-skinned Nautolan, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she let a few silent tears flow.

"You always put up with me, Ralto," Faith said. "I put you through so much trouble. I've said it to myself, but I'll say it to you now: You have the patience of a saint."

Ralto chuckled warmly. "You are hardly the average Jedi, Faith. You are, however, a unique person with so much to offer the rest of the galaxy. We may not have always seen eye-to-eye, but I have never been so proud of any of my students as I am of you."

Faith gripped the Jedi Master's robes tight as she tried to bite back tears. "I'll keep going, Master. I'll do it for you. I won't let myself give up."

"Don't keep going for my sake, Faith," Ralto said. "Not just for my sake, at least. Keep yourself moving forward for the sake of yourself, for those you love, and for all those you seek to protect. Everything is connected, Faith. Never forget that."

Faith leaned back from Ralto and looked him in the eyes. Each of them had one hand on the other's shoulder.

"You were the best, Master Ralto. And I guess you still are."

Ralto smiled wide at his former student. "The Force will be with you, Faith. Always."

Faith woke up.

* * *

The trip down to Tython from the orbiting space station had been entirely uneventful, and Faith was dreading the judgment of the Jedi Council. Her dream talk with Ralto, regardless of whether or not it had really been him, had helped Faith deal with what had happened. She was still torn up inside, but she was trying not to let her grief devour her. Faith had needed to hear Ralto's voice, and she was perfectly willing to believe that her old Master was still alive in some form that she just could not see or comprehend.

Faith was slightly surprised that nobody confiscated the many firearms, grenades, and small blades that Tal and Vira carried. Given the level of combat skill that she'd seen Ralto display, however, she expected that the Jedi were confident that they could negate any potential threats within the Temple

Remembering Ralto's infinite patience and tolerance, Faith realized that it was just as likely that the Jedi were extending an open hand of trust to Tal and Vira. The notion made Faith feel dirty, as she would never have invited armed first-time guests into her home. Faith had made an effort to vouch for the two soldiers, and she was humbled to see that the Jedi seemed to give a damn about what she thought.

The landing pad was in an open-air part of the Jedi Temple itself, and the trip to the Council chambers after touchdown was not long at all. In Faith's mind, however, the walk was slow and long and in the general direction of not-nice words being said about her. There could be an execution waiting for her as well, for all she knew. Ralto was one man, but Faith didn't really know how the other Jedi would react to his death on her watch. If she was honest with herself, Faith wasn't even sure how she wanted them to react.

The double doors to the Council chamber slid open and allowed Faith to walk inside. She made a distinct effort to hold her head high to combat the image of weakness that she felt inside herself. Tal and Vira followed right behind her.

Satele Shan rose from her seat and walked to meet Faith, causing the younger Jedi to smile very slightly. The Grand Master of the Jedi Order might be a powerful and influential personage, but she also seemed to truly care about individual people.

"Welcome back to Tython, Faith. And welcome to you as well, Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus. Thank you for coming. I received a very brief, text-only update from the Major, but I'd like to hear from you, Faith, about what happened on Nar Shaddaa."

Faith tried not to smile. A lot of people in power would play around with words and avoid actually dealing with what had to be dealt with. Satele Shan didn't mess around, and Faith respected her for that. It didn't hurt that she was quite easy on the eyes. Even if Satele was in her forties or fifties, Faith could imagine… No! No imagining such things! That was not why she was here.

"We had to work to find the place, which turned out to be a temple of some sort," Faith said. "It was a four-sided pyramid, but not with a single slope. It was layers built on top of each other. One of those super-skyscrapers was built on top of it and a few other buildings."

"Interesting. The design is familiar, but please continue," Satele said.

"Uh, right. So, we went inside. There was a big ramp leading into the temple, and there were statues of some alien that none of us recognized. It looked kinda like a human in that it had two arms, two legs, a head, and a body, but the hands were different, and the heads looked like a penis with the eyes being two balls sticking out on the sides."

"Jedi Lehane," one of the other Masters said sternly, "are you trying to make a mockery of this situation?"

"No, I'm not," Faith answered the dark-skinned human man. "I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em. Mind if I continue?"

The Jedi Master who didn't give his name merely waved a hand dismissively.

"Thanks," Faith said tersely, taking his gesture as permission to speak further. "So, we go through to a room further inside, and there's a Hutt in there, only it's all shriveled and corrupt and pale. It's like if you took a Sith who's used the Dark Side so much that his skin is white and veiny and his eyes are red… Take that and multiply that by a hundred or something.

"So the Hutt talks to us, only it doesn't feel like a Hutt and it wasn't speaking Huttese. I dunno what it was speaking, but I think the Force was translating. It really, really wanted this Purge Engine to go off, whatever it is. It said that using this weapon would be its revenge. It mentioned its species, and I think that whatever was talking was just possessing the Hutt's body, and had been using its ancestors and possessing the kids as soon as they popped out."

"That could be true, assuming it could find enough food to survive over many Hutt generations," Satele said fairly. "Hutts are hermaphrodites and need no partner to reproduce. They just need a lot of food. In any event, do you remember what the species was called?"

Faith shook her head. "Everything happened so fast. The thing summoned a huge storm of lighting that probably would've vaporized us all if Ra- If Master Ralto hadn't summoned some sort of barrier to protect us all. Vira and Tal… I mean Lieutenant Septus and Major Cortland covered me while I downloaded the map.

"Master Ralto…" And now came the hard part. "Master Ralto kept up his defense long enough for us to get away. I don't know if he took the monster down with him, but he gave his life so that we could escape. I'm sorry I couldn't save him, Master Shan. I didn't want to leave him there."

Satele shook her head. "You don't have to justify Ralto's sacrifice, Faith. He did what Jedi are meant to do: He served and protected the lives of others. It may have cost him his life, but he lives on through your actions now, Faith, and all of ours as well."

"I know that, Master," Faith said, wanting to show respect in this place. "It just seemed like something I had to say, y'know?"

"I think so, Faith," Satele said kindly. "And now, I think I have some idea of what we are up against. Before I speculate further, do either of you remember what species built this Purge Engine?" she asked of the two soldiers.

"Rakata," Tal said. "It said that the Purge Engine was 'the ultimate revenge of the Rakata.' Words like that aren't something that I'm likely to forget, especially with how it spoke them. Maybe the Force had something to do with it, but everything it said just felt evil in a way that I can't really describe."

"I agree," Vira said. "It was a monster, and it had to be destroyed. I'm sorry that Master Ralto had to die to save us, but I intend to honor him by making sure that the Purge Engine is never used. If we can, I'd like to destroy it."

"That would probably be for the best," Satele said. "The Rakata were an ancient race that is almost extinct now. They ruled the galaxy for thousands of years before the Jedi Order and the Republic ever existed. They enslaved much of the known galaxy and ruled their 'Infinite Empire' through the Dark Side of the Force. The Star Forge that was at the heart of the Jedi Civil War three hundred years ago was Rakata technology."

"How do you know this, Master Shan?" a female Togruta Jedi asked.

"Interestingly enough, Master Kiwiiks, I found the answers in a book that Jedi Faith found in the Temple on Coruscant: A journal written by my ancestor, Bastila Shan. She wrote about the Rakata homeworld – it was called Lehon, which is probably why the ruin on Taris responded to that name – and the Star Forge in great detail. Their technology required the Force to use, and that became the Rakata's undoing."

"How's that?" Faith asked.

"Near the end of the Infinite Empire's reign," Satele explained, "a plague swept through the Rakata populace. It not only hurt them physically, but it permanently severed their connection to the Force, or at least their ability to manipulate it. Their own technology would not work for them, and the various slave species rose up and defeated them. The only survivors are a pale shadow of what they once were, and their numbers aren't enough to sustain a population for much longer."

"But if the Sith find the Purge Engine," Faith said as comprehension dawned, "then they could use it to kill whatever it is the thing kills."

"It might not be that sort of weapon," Master Kiwiiks said fairly.

"That is possible," Satele acknowledged, "but I find it unlikely. What troubles me even more is a report I recently received from a local law enforcement official on a planet in the Outer Rim. One of the natives of the planet Tatooine came to him with a story of a trio of Imperials – at least two of whom were Sith – that took hostage a clan of Jawas, the local natives, and forced them to take the Sith to a desert ruin. These Sith killed Jedi Master Roland Skoan, and the surviving Jawas said that the ruin on Tatooine featured the same symbol that we have been using to identify relics of the Infinite Empire.

"The Sith are on their way to finding the Purge Engine. Jedi Faith Lehane, we need you to take the lead in finding the Purge Engine before the Sith so that we can end this threat for good."

Faith smiled grimly. "They won't get the chance to use it, Master Satele. Whoever these three Sith are, they don't have anything on the three of us, do they, guys?"

"Not a chance, Faith," Vira said enthusiastically.

"We have this," Tal said encouragingly.

"All right then," Faith said. "We'll find the Purge Engine and destroy it." She figured that it was the least they could do to honor Master Ralto's memory.

"And if those three Sith try to stop us, we'll be damned sure to make them pay."


	25. Buffy XII - Alderaan

**Buffy XII - Alderaan**

* * *

"Are you ready to go again?"

Thriss twirled her new electrostaff in her right hand, getting used to the feel and the weight of the weapon. "Yes, Lord Sunhome. Let us perform another exercise."

The newly minted Sith Lord smiled. "All right. And if it's all the same to you, Thriss, you can keep calling me 'Buffy.' Minions should have to call me by my title. Friends like you get to call me by my name."

"I assume you count me among that number as well?" Dalen asked.

"Of course I do, Shar. Don't be stupid," Buffy said with a smile. "Now let's go again. I'm setting the droids' difficulty to level eight. I want us to have a challenge. Let's go!"

Buffy pushed a button on the remote on her belt, and a quintet of combat droids unfolded in the training grounds in the middle of Kaas City. Two of the droids held blaster rifles and three of them held vibroblades.

Buffy and Dalen leaped into the fray and engaged the droids with their lightsabers while Thriss deflected any blaster bolts back at their owners. The two Sith Lords kept most of the droids' attention focused on them while Thriss reached out with the Force to keep them healed and vitalized throughout the fight.

The difficulty could go as high as level ten, which was meant to challenge a newly minted Darth. Of course, most such Lords of the Sith wouldn't bother themselves with training in the middle of a public area.

Most Sith did not work in units of three people. Together, Buffy, Dalen, and Thriss managed to dismantle the five droids before the thirty second mark.

"Excellent!" Buffy proclaimed as she deactivated her lightsaber. "That was excellent, wasn't it?"

"The performance was certainly impressive," Dalen agreed. "Your skills, Thriss, have come a long way in a short time."

"Thank you, Lord Dalen," Thriss said politely. "It helps to focus my energy on positive endeavors such as healing and defense. I do not think I could muster the needed fury to summon lightning to harm another. If it is my fate to act in a support capacity, then I am content with that."

"I confess to being disappointed," Dalen said carefully. "A true Sith always strives for more personal power. Contentment is a chain that must be broken in order to advance."

Thriss shrugged off the criticism. "I must be more Chiss in my thinking than Sith. I desired an avenue to use my powers, and I have that now. And by remaining in a support capacity, I am less likely to incur the wrath of other Sith who would seek to rise in stature by killing one of greater power. I may not be the ideal Sith, Lord Dalen, but do not mistake my lack of bloodlust for a lack of drive. I wish to serve the Empire, but I also wish to live. This seems to be the ideal solution."

Buffy clapped her hands together slowly. "Bravo, Thriss. It makes me proud to see you finding your place in the world. More than proud, it makes me happy."

Thriss positively beamed at Lord Sunhome's praise. "Thank you, Buffy. That means a great deal to me."

Dalen cleared his throat to get the attention of the two women. "If you are done with your flirtations, then might I suggest we make our way to the Citadel? We are almost late for our meeting with Darth Thanaton. I believe we all lost track of time as we trained, and now we must either be late or else appear while covered in sweat."

"Everyone is always covered in sweat on Dromund Kaas, Shar," Buffy chided with a smile. "The humidity is killer here. Still, I guess it wouldn't be good to be all smelly in front of a Dark Councilor."

"Allow me to assist," Thriss said cheerfully.

The Chiss woman closed her eyes and moved her right hand through the air, letting it rest for a few seconds each pointing at Buffy, then at Dalen, and then at herself.

Thriss opened her eyes. "I have purged as much of the offensive smells and perspiration from our bodies as I could. A minor talent, but I hope it proves useful."

The newly-minted Lord Sunhome did a very un-Lordly thing and sniffed at her own armpits. "Very nice," she declared.

"Excellent work, Thriss," Dalen said before shooting a glare at his former apprentice. "Buffy, please don't do that again. Let's go now."

The three Sith traveled to the speeder pad that would take them to the Citadel, and they were all properly Sith now. With Lords Dalen and Sunhome speaking on behalf of Thriss's abilities and experiences, Darth Thanaton had, as one of his first acts as a Dark Councilor, waived the Chiss's need to undergo trials at Korriban. He had judged that her life's experiences had prepared her as much as the Academy could for the rigors of following the path of the Sith, though it was clear that he was hesitant to admit a Chiss into the ranks of the Sith at all.

Officially, Thriss was Lord Sunhome's apprentice, but Lord Dalen was as much her Master in practice. The trio had become a topic of some discussion in polite Sith society, or so they were told, but none of them cared much for the politics of the rich and well-to-do. Their path was one of strength, power, and victory.

That path led them to Darth Thanaton's study within the Imperial Citadel. Buffy mused to herself that as far as she had come, she would still be taking orders. So far, however, she had no reason to despise Thanaton and every reason to want to please him. She didn't want to seem ungrateful for her title.

The three Sith walked into Thanaton's office without being challenged or stopped by anyone. News had spread about the three Sith who had helped the newest Dark Councilor gain his seat, and as his star rose, so too did theirs.

The Dark Lord sat at his desk looking at a datapad when Buffy entered his sanctum. Dalen and Thriss followed right behind her.

"Ah, Lord Sunhome! A pleasure to see you again," Thanaton said as he put down the pad. "I confess that I was opposed to your apprenticeship at first, given Lord Dalen's unorthodox opinions. You have both, however, exceeded my expectations quite splendidly. Enough of that, though. I gather from the look on your face that you are eager to be back doing the work that needs to be done for the Empire. Does Dromund Kaas not agree with you?"

Buffy allowed herself to smirk despite the Sith Lord's backhanded compliment. "It's too humid, my Lord."

Thanaton chuckled. "Of course. It isn't for everyone. To business, then. I have studied the maps you have gathered, and I wish for you to continue the search for the Purge Engine. All indications are that it is a weapon that could be used to great effect in Imperial hands.

"You should also be aware, however, that you are not alone in your pursuit of the Purge Engine. The Republic and the Jedi are also on the trail. Ironically enough, they have made discoveries on worlds you have not visited, and without the data they have inadvertently uncovered, the weapon would be further out of reach than it is now."

"How is that so, my Lord?" Dalen asked.

"It appears to be a puzzle, Lord Dalen. Once all of the pieces are activated, the location of the Purge Engine will be revealed. Before his death, Darth Arctis had a team on Taris looking into a ruin that shared similarities with the one discovered on Csilla. We were unaware of the nature of the ruins at that time, but the Taris ruin was found by the Jedi, and intelligence reported seeing the same group on Nar Shaddaa not that long ago."

"Where are the Jedi going next?" Buffy asked.

"We do not know just yet, but that is not your concern, Lord Sunhome," Thanaton said shortly. "The Jedi will do our work for us by continuing on their path. Imperial Intelligence is watching their progress carefully, as are others among the Sith, but the Republic is not your priority. For now, concern yourselves with finding the next piece of this ancient puzzle."

"Where would that be, my Lord?" Dalen asked.

Thanaton smirked. "If there was any further proof that the Dark Side of the Force is waxing, then this is it. Your next destination is Alderaan."

"Alderaan?" Dalen said with a chuckle. "That is quite ironic."

Buffy scowled. "I believe I speak for both my apprentice and for myself when I say that we must be missing something. Why is Alderaan significant?"

"Because, Lord Sunhome," Thanaton said with a chuckle of his own, "Alderaan was one of the very first worlds to join the Republic. The Treaty of Coruscant was negotiated and signed on Alderaan. After the so-called 'peace treaty' was confirmed, the people of Alderaan voted to leave the Republic after feeling betrayed. Ironic, considering that it was Imperial guile that secured such favorable terms for the Empire."

Buffy read between the lines and recognized that 'Imperial guile' was a polite way of saying 'Imperial lies and deception.'

Thanaton waved a dismissive hand. "If you want more historical details, I suggest you ask Lord Dalen. His reputation for outlandish opinions is balanced by not a few notable scholarly writings."

Dalen gave the Dark Councilor a small bow. "Thank you, my Lord."

"Indeed. What you must all know, Lord Sunhome, is that Alderaan is governed by a number of noble houses that both Empire and Republic are wooing, for lack of a better term. House Panteer is the royal house, but the line of succession is in dispute. Our primary ally among the Houses of Alderaan is House Thul, while the Republic's proxy is House Organa. There are other houses that are likely to stand in your way, but it is probable that the main obstacle will be the Killiks. I assume that you are familiar with the species, Lord Dalen, and I leave it to you to impart to Lord Sunhome and her apprentice the necessary information."

"Is the next ruin within a Killik hive, my Lord?" Dalen asked.

"That is unknown at this time," Thanaton answered, "but it seems a logical assumption. I have taken the liberty of recording a message to your ship's pilot droid, which you will download into a portable communicator. It is simply an instruction to any Imperial presence you encounter to aid you in any way that you deem necessary."

"Who should they defer to?" Buffy asked. "Myself or Lord Dalen?"

Thanaton did not hesitate before answering. "In matters of combat, you will take the lead, Lord Sunhome. Defer to Lord Dalen on all other matters."

The logical part of Buffy understood that Dalen was far more well-read than she was, and this was his native galaxy, so it was logical that he should take the lead for most things. Another part of her raged at being classified as nothing more than a brute, good only for killing things. Yes, she was a Slayer, but that was hardly all that she was.

Thanaton narrowed his gaze at Buffy. "Mind your thoughts, Lord Sunhome. They betray you. Do not make me regret elevating you to your current station."

Buffy did not rid herself of her anger, but she pushed it down deep into herself, turning into fuel for the Dark Side of the Force that she could call on later.

"Better," was all that Thanaton said of the matter. "I have seen to it that your ship is stocked and full of supplies suitable for trekking across both on and below the surface of Alderaan. Your apprentice should find it quite amenable compared to Dromund Kaas or Tatooine." The Dark Councilor's tone made it clear that he held Thriss in low regard. Buffy guessed his opinion probably extended to anyone who wasn't born on a hot world. Memories of Korriban came rushing back to her.

"That will be all," Thanaton said. "Go now and leave for Alderaan immediately. Do not return until you have brought the Empire closer to finding the Purge Engine."

"Yes, my Lord," the three other Sith said as one. They bowed to Thanaton together before leaving his study.

Buffy, Dalen, and Thriss left the imposing confines of the Sith Sanctum and took a speeder back to Kaas City proper. The trip was not long, but the change of atmosphere was almost tangible.

"So, Shar," Buffy asked once they were in the relatively public central area of Kaas City, "should I be worried that Thriss will feel at home on Alderaan?"

"You sound worried that I might be comfortable there," Thriss noted. "Why does this trouble you?"

"I grew up in a relatively warm part of my homeworld," Buffy said. And while Csaplar was designed for warm-blooded people such as humans and Chiss, the rest of the Csilla seems to disagree."

Dalen chuckled softly. "Alderaan is not a frozen world like Csilla or Hoth, but it is a mountainous world full of grass and snow. From what you have told me of your home, Buffy, the climate would be closer to the northern regions of your home nation, or perhaps further north than that."

"Just so we're clear," Buffy said carefully, "Alderaan is Planet Canada?"

"I do not understand," Thriss said as they made their way to the spaceport-bound speeder. "What is a Canada?"

"You will come to learn, Thriss," Dalen said patiently, "that your new Master has many eccentricities, notions, and opinions that no one else in this galaxy shares. She does not expect you to understand her jokes, as they are intended solely for her own peace of mind."

Buffy stuck out her tongue at Dalen. "You just have to go and ruin all my fun, don't you?"

"Someone has to," Dalen said simply. "If not I, then who else would stop you from driving everyone you meet to insanity?"

Buffy grumbled under her breath while Dalen and Thriss shared a small laugh at Lord Sunhome's expense.

* * *

"This world is marvelous!" Thriss said quietly, her voice full of awe at the majesty of Alderaan. House Thul's estates alone were the size of a small city, enough to warrant its own spaceport. Buffy's apprentice had eagerly bounded ahead of the two full Sith Lords to take in the sights of Alderaanian architecture – both ancient and modern – that managed to blend into the grassy and snowy mountains without leaving a single blemish on the planet's natural beauty.

"Alderaan has quite the cultured history," Dalen explained to the young Chiss. "Even among the Sith, there are many who desire to claim land on this world. Many noble Imperial families can trace their lineage to Alderaan from before the Great Hyperspace War. What do you think so far, Buffy?"

Dressed in heavy black gundark leather clothes and a large, garish-looking vinecat-fur hooded cloak, Buffy's scowl was almost-if-not-entirely comical. "I hate this place."

Dalen smirked in return. "I'm disappointed, Lord Sunhome. The crisp, fresh mountain air is one of Alderaan's greatest luxuries. Take joy in it."

"It's cold, Lord Dalen," Buffy said, matching him title for title. "You know that this will bite you in the ass eventually, Shar. Thriss had to endure Tatooine, and now I have to endure Alderaan. Your turn is coming, and sooner than you think."

Shar laughed merrily, causing even more heads to turn towards the trio of Sith. All were unusual in some regard. With a population of almost no non-humans, Thriss was remarkably exotic, especially with both a rifle and an electrostaff strapped to her back. Shar was dressed in a black combat suit with a black and red cloak billowing out behind him, cutting a dashing figure in the bright sunlight.

And Buffy was rubbing her arms together while wearing a dark yellow fur cloak that was probably too large for her tiny frame. If the cold didn't kill her first, she felt like she just might die of embarrassment.

Dalen consulted a holomap mounted on his wrist. "Our contact here is Lord Dalton Thul. Darth Thanaton should have told him to expect us. This way, Buffy. Thriss, stop wandering and follow!"

Buffy and Thriss fell in line behind Dalen, who led them down a wide avenue and then up a large set of stairs and through open double doors into a majestic palace that seemed to be carved out of marble and gold. Colorful banners hung from the balcony, proudly displaying the crest of House Thul.

"This way," Dalen said again directing them through the cavernous main hall into a side corridor that led to an unremarkable durasteel door.

Dalen pressed a button on the wall just next to the door. "Lords Dalen and Sunhome to see Lord Dalton Thul," he announced to what Buffy assumed was a microphone.

Buffy didn't like that Sith social norms prevented Thriss from gaining any proper recognition, but the Chiss woman didn't seem to mind in the slightest. She was instead focusing on the many tapestries and sculptures that adorned the hallway. No doubt her history in archaeology fueled her interest in the markings of Alderaanian culture.

The metal door rapidly retracted upwards with a sharp hissing sound. Dalen invited himself in, and Buffy followed along with Thriss.

The room was rather Spartan compared with what little Buffy had in the way of expectations regarding Alderaan's nobles. Instead of works of art lining the room, a number of computer consoles filled up almost every centimeter of the walls of the room, which was about the size of Buffy's living room in her old home on Revello Drive.

A C-shaped desk was host to yet more electronics, and seated at the desk was a man who looked to be about thirty or so. He had a handsome mane of neck-length blonde hair, but aside from that, he was possibly the ugliest human man that Buffy had ever seen who had not been ravaged by the Dark Side of the Force. He was incredibly pale, slender to the point of anorexia, and his haggard face had too many wrinkles to appear natural. His nose was far too big, his eyes were spaced too far apart, and his lower jaw was so large that his mouth didn't even look human.

And then he spoke. "Welcome, guests. I would offer you a seat, but I'm afraid I rarely entertain visitors. The bulk of House Thul feels that I am an embarrassment, and have set me to work maintaining their information and intelligence networks. I suppose they feel it is a punishment, but I welcome the challenge that an honest day's work offers. Now then, how may I help you?"

Buffy mentally slapped herself for almost judging the man based on his deformed appearance. Handsome he might not be, but Dalton Thul was clearly a cultured and intelligent man. Belatedly, Buffy realized that his deformity was probably useful in lulling enemies into a false sense of security and superiority.

"Firstly," Dalen said without missing a beat, "thank you for seeing us. I don't know what you were told to expect from us, so why don't we start there."

"Certainly, Lord Dalen," Dalton Thul said with what might have been a smile. "I will not mince words: I am an agent of Imperial Intelligence, and my loyalty is to the Empire alone: My allegiance to my birth house is merely a cover that serves a purpose. As to why you are here, Darth Thanaton informed me that you would be arriving on Alderaan to secure an ancient relic of some sort. He told me to aid you in any way you require, but he also mentioned the possibility that a problem I have recently encountered might be related to your quest."

"I see," Dalen said carefully. "Please elaborate."

"Of course. Before I continue further, are you familiar with the Killik species?"

"I know a little," Dalen said, "however Lord Sunhome and her apprentice are unfamiliar with them. I gave them the most bare bones of lessons on the way from Dromund Kaas, but my knowledge is not as great as Darth Thanaton might have imagined. Perhaps you could enlighten us all?"

"Most certainly," Dalton said, sounding genuinely pleased at the opportunity to share his knowledge. "The Killiks are a race of intelligent insectoids that dwell in hives that dot the landscape of Alderaan. They tend to hibernate underground for a century or more at a time, followed by years of activity aboveground. They are currently active in Alderaanian affairs, and are a constant source of frustration for all of the noble houses."

"Are these Killiks a serious threat?" Thriss asked.

Dalen glared at the Chiss apprentice, but Dalton Thul did not seem to mind the impropriety. "When provoked, most certainly. They are smart enough both to use and to craft contemporary weapons, but the true fear that all humans on Alderaan face is the prospect of becoming Joined to a Killik hive."

Buffy could practically hear the capital J in Dalton's words. "I'm probably going to regret asking this," she said, "but what happens when someone becomes 'Joined' to the Killiks?"

"Their personality and consciousness becomes absorbed into the Killik hive mind. A Joiner will initially retain a fair amount of his or her personality, but over time, their identity becomes subsumed until they are just another part of the greater whole of the Killiks. While they are a telepathic species, each hive is its own organism, so to speak, with each individual Killik the equivalent of a single limb. A Joiner is a Killik in all but their birth species.

"The prospect of becoming a Joiner is only part of the deep fear that almost all Alderaanians feel for the Killiks, however," Thul continued. "While it is not often spoken of, history is quite clear in telling us that the Killiks are Alderaan's true native species. Humankind has lived here for tens of millennia, but how and when we first arrived here is a mystery. What is known is that the Killiks were here first. Many fear that they will one day attempt to reclaim the entire planet, but across centuries of history, that has not yet happened."

"Creepy," was all that Buffy could say. Memories of vampires and other demons hiding in the sewers of Sunnydale came rushing back as if she had never left the Hellmouth.

"I take it," Dalen said, "that Darth Thanaton assumes that the Killiks have something to do with the relic we are searching for?"

"I do not know what he assumes," Thul said carefully, "but he believes in the possibility that there is a link between the Killiks and your quest. As to how he arrived at that conclusion, allow me to show you."

Dalton Thul stood up from his seat, walked over to a wall-mounted computer, and gestured for the three Sith to come to his side.

Buffy carefully followed on Dalen's heels and watched as Thul entered commands into the computer too rapidly for her to keep up. "Approximately two standard weeks ago," Dalton said, "a group of twenty-two ordinary-looking Alderaanians approached House Thul and asked to see the senior Lord of the House, which to be fair is a position that is often in flux in many Alderaanian houses. I never met with this group personally, but the incident was recorded in its entirety. I will play it back for you."

A blue-tinted hologram appeared over the central desk, and Buffy saw a number of humans in all manner of garb approach a throne, upon which Buffy assumed was the Thul Lord in charge of the entire house.

"Thanks be to you for seeing us," a young man said.

"The hives of Alderaan are threatened, as are you," an elderly woman said.

"We cannot fight the Dark Hive," a pair of twin teenage boys said as one.

"But we believe you can," the first man said.

"What is this?!" the nameless Thul Lord demanded. "Who allowed Joiners into this palace?"

"Please, you must help us!" the twins said, again with one voice.

"The Dark Hive seeks to extend its influence," a young girl said.

"We do not wish further conflict," the old woman said.

"But the Dark Hive seeks to devour all," the first man said.

"I will not tolerate your presence one moment longer!" the idiot Thul Lord yelled. "Guards! Get these things out of my palace!"

The hologram flickered out of existence.

"This same group of individuals has been petitioning several of Alderaan's noble houses to intervene, but so far, they have been rebuffed at every turn," Dalton Thul explained. "Darth Thanaton believes that you will find answers to your questions, or perhaps even this relic itself, within the 'Dark Hive' that the Joiner delegation mentioned.

"Why didn't he kill them?" Buffy asked.

"I'm sorry?" Dalton inquired.

"The Joiners," Buffy elaborated. "Why didn't your leader have them killed?"

Dalton shrugged. "The less savory aspects of Alderaanian politics happen in the shadows when no one is watching. There are rules of civilization that go back thousands of years. To execute someone in the palace in the bright of day, even a Joiner, goes against the unspoken tenets of our society. I have no doubt that had the visitors been born Killiks, however, that they would have never been allowed to advance so far into Thul territory."

"This is all quite fascinating," Dalen said as his face scrunched up in concentration. "The situation is truly remarkable. But enough of my musings. Do you have any further data on the Dark Hive?"

"Only a clue as to its location," Dalton said. "Over the past few months, I have tracked the movements of several Killik hives in the Juran Mountains. They are migrating – possibly fleeing – in all directions away from one hive which has not registered any migratory activity. An agent I sent to the area reported that usually-tame native fauna have become far more aggressive than is the norm. Native flora has also been recorded as decaying faster than new plant material can grow. Highly unusual for Alderaan, or anywhere for that matter."

"Sounds like a good place to start," Buffy said. "Mind if we hijack one of your cabs for a bit?"

Dalton's face was too deformed to read. "I would not recommend hijacking a private vehicle. House Thul would not let such a crime go unpunished, though the real world consequences for a Sith Lord would be minimal at worst. I would, however, be happy to authorize a loan of one of our speeders to suit your needs, Lord Sunhome."

Buffy tried not to look Dalton in the eye. "Uh, right. 'Hijack' was just a weird word I used for some reason. I did mean 'borrow.'"

"I thought as much, but one can never be too careful," Dalton said calmly.

"Your help is much appreciated, Lord Thul," Dalen said. "We will keep in regular contact as per standard Sith protocols. If we miss five of our scheduled check-ins, please give a full summation of events here to Darth Thanaton."

"Yes, my Lord," Dalton said. "I'll have someone escort you to your destination. He'll be waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs."

"Thank you, Lord Thul. We will be on our way now," Dalen said.

Buffy was the first one out of the room. She sensed a familiar presence inside the palace walls, and it caused her lips to turn upward into a wicked smirk.

"You are happy, Buffy," Thriss observed as they left Dalton's office. "You feel close to… It is something I cannot describe."

Buffy flashed a kinder smile at the lovely Chiss woman. "Just watch and learn."

Descending a narrow staircase into the main hall of Palace Thul, a scrawny red-skinned Sith pureblood in a clerk's garments took a step backwards when he saw Buffy coming towards him.

"Loslar," the Slayer said with a smirk. "How could I forget the weakest Sith at the Academy back on Korriban? Do you remember trying to set those twin lackeys on me? They're dead now, by the way."

Buffy felt Dalen's approval from behind her, while Thriss was merely curious. "Who is this?" she asked.

"You listen up now!" Buffy yelled, taking a hold of Loslar with the Force and dragging him into the air by his throat. "Do you remember what you are? We had this talk in the catacombs of the Academy after you tried to blackmail Telran and Malra, and I told you all those months ago exactly what you are. Now, my apprentice asked a question: What are you?"

"N-nothing!" Loslar gasped as he struggled to breathe. "I am nothing!"

Buffy chuckled as she reveled in the knowledge that she had brought a one-time bully to such depths of misery. "And you'll recall that I told you to be prepared to obey Lord Sunhome if you ever met her. Well, now you have. You are mine, little nothing. You're only alive because I spared you on Korriban, and you obey me until the day you die. Do you understand me?!"

Loslar clutched at his throat with his fingers, but he could not relieve the pressure that was choking him.

"Okay, let's make this simple," Buffy said in a bored voice. "Take your hands away from your throat if you want to live as my pet. If you don't, then you'll die in terrible agony as soon as we've finished here on Alderaan. Pick your poison."

Loslar spread his arms wide and fell to the ground a moment later, gasping for air.

Buffy laughed. "Smart choice, little nothing. That's just my own little nickname for you now. Anyone else can call you what they want, but you belong to me, and you are_my_ little nothing. If you're a good boy, you might get a treat later. Do you understand?"

Loslar quickly prostrated himself at Buffy's feet. "Yes, Master! I am yours to command, Master!"

"Good boy," Buffy said sweetly just before she kicked him. "Now get up and take us to the Dark Hive, pronto!"

"Yes, Master!" Loslar said, scurrying to his feet and moving to exit the palace's main hall.

Thriss walked up to Buffy and laid a hand on the Slayer's shoulder. "Was that truly necessary, Buffy?"

Buffy smiled and ran a hand through Thriss's black-blue hair. "Loslar was one of the more annoying obstacles I faced on Korriban. He's not really worth killing, but so long as he's scared enough, he'll do whatever we say. It might be nice to have someone else around who can carry all the heavy equipment, right?"

Dalen chuckled and walked up to Buffy. "You have become ruthless and efficient, Lord Sunhome. You are a remarkable Sith."

Buffy pretended to blush. "Nah, I've always been ruthless and efficient. I just never really let myself enjoy it until now. And while I don't think I could have imagined myself saying this not that long ago…"

"What?" Thriss asked with a tinge of fear in her voice. "What is it, Buffy?"

"Now that I've given this asshole what's always been coming to him, I want more. I want him and his kind to suffer a thousand fold for everything they've put others through, and I know I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

"You're really sure about this?" Thriss said carefully.

"Everything used to seem so clear," Buffy said, not noticing that Thriss had taken a step back and away from her. "Good was good and bad was bad. But if I can't enjoy giving bastards like this what's coming to them," the Slayer-Sith said with a nasty smirk, "then I guess I just don't wanna be the good girl anymore."


	26. Faith XII - Balmorra

**Faith XII - Balmorra**

* * *

Faith sat cross-legged on the floor of the small cabin aboard Major Cortland's ship, her eyes closed as she breathed slow, regular breaths. Calm was not an easy thing for Faith to find, but since Master Ralto's death, she found his teachings coming to her with far greater ease. She figured that she had taken his lessons for granted while he was alive, but she had somehow remembered all that he had taught her just the same.

It had taken some time and a lot of self-reflection, but Faith had decided that the best way to honor her Master was to honor his teachings. She would always be Faith Lehane, Slayer of Bad Guys, but she was also a Jedi Knight now, and she wasn't about to let Ralto's death prevent her from living her life.

The slightest ripple in the Force told Faith that Lieutenant Septus was on her way. Faith opened her eyes and got to her feet just in time for her to hear a hand knocking on her door.

Vira was in the middle of her second knock when the door slid open at Faith's command.

"Whoa! Don't scare me like that!" the soldier shouted with more surprise than was probably warranted.

Faith decided to be gracious and at least pretended to look ashamed. "Sorry, Vira. It's a weird Jedi thing: I felt you coming."

"Ugh." Vira groaned and let herself into Faith's cabin. "Sorry, Faith, but you just made me think of something that I've been trying not to think about."

"What's that?" Faith asked.

Vira sighed. "Nothing much. Just that I haven't had any shore leave in forever. Not that I'd want to stop fighting. If I'm not fighting, I'm not me. It's just… This whole business with the Sith and this Purge Engine has me thinking about some of the stuff I haven't done yet, and that I hope I'll live long enough to do some day."

Faith wondered if Ralto had had any similar regrets, but she forced herself to focus on Vira. "What brought this on?"

"Your Jedi sense, I guess? You say you felt me coming?" Vira laughed without humor. "I guess there's no secrets between squadmates, so I'll just say it."

"Say what?"

"Nobody's ever 'felt me coming' before. And I'd kinda like to have that on my resume before I die, y'know?"

Once upon a time, Faith would have laughed out loud at Vira's confession. After fighting beside her and recognizing a sort of kindred spirit in the one-eyed soldier, Faith could only look at her friend with a warm smile that still felt strange on her face. "Nothing to be ashamed of, Vira," Faith said. "You don't wanna rush something like that. You get too used to something and you take it for granted. It doesn't seem special anymore if you don't do it right."

"Are we still talking about sex?" Vira asked with a knowing look.

"Kinda, kinda not" Faith confessed. "Just thinking about what I could've done, what I could've learned, if I hadn't taken Ralto's life for granted. I thought he'd always be there, y'know? But he isn't here anymore, at least not in the 'look-at-me-here-I-am' kind of way.

"As for dying without regrets," Faith said with a small smirk, "Don't think I haven't been listening real careful to how you and Tal tease each other. He never settles for just an order, and you never settle for just a 'yes, sir.'"

Vira kept a calm face, but Faith felt her emotions flare in the Force. "What are you talking about, Jedi girl?" Vira said wearily. "Tal and I have just been squadmates for as long as I can remember, that's it."

Now Faith had to laugh a bit. "Okay, that's two strikes against you right there. Since when is Major Cortland just 'Tal' to you? And second, you haven't called me 'Jedi girl' since Taris, I think. I'm thinking I struck a nerve."

Vira sighed, and Faith sensed that she didn't want to fight about this. "Look, Faith: I don't know about you, but when you fight with someone long enough, there's a bond that forms between you. You and I have the same kind of bond with each other that I have with the major."  
"Hm, right," Faith said, obviously not buying it. "You're scared he doesn't feel the same way, don't you?"

"Just what do you think you know, anyway?" Vira hissed.

Faith shrugged. "Nothing incredibly obvious. You both relax a bit more when you're right next to each other. You have the warrior's bond you mentioned, but I've been in that kind of band of brothers and sisters before, and I can tell when it's something more. All in the details. And then there's the fact that you're even here at all."

"What?! What the kriff are you talking about?!" Vira snarled.

"Well," Faith said, "Tal commanded a squad called the Bloodhounds, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Where did you rank in the Bloodhounds' chain of command, Vira?"

"Ever since the Bloodhounds were formed, Tal was the CO and I was the XO," Vira said wearily. "Why?"

"Well," Faith said with a strangely compassionate smirk, "I may be wrong, but when the guy in charge leaves his squad, he usually passes command to whoever's next in line. But Tal didn't do that: He put someone else in charge and took you with him. I'm guessing it isn't strictly against regs, or else that hard ass Colonel wouldn't let you come with us. And yet, here you are, because Tal Cortland wants you to be here."

Vira was now visibly blushing, though her crossed arms and scowl made her look like a child who'd been caught breaking a rule that made no sense to a child's mind.

"Even if this is the case," Vira said carefully, "we don't exactly have much time to do anything about it."

"We're docked and waiting for orders," Faith said. "And as the ranking Jedi on board, I'm taking matters into my own hands."

"What? Faith, what are you doing?" Vira asked fearfully.

"Yo, Tal!" Faith shouted as she stepped into the ship's main cabin. "Tal, get your ass over here right now, dammit!"

Major Cortland came running from the cockpit, and Faith wondered how anyone managed to run at all in that heavy white armor that he and Vira both wore.

"What's wrong, Faith?" he asked.

"I've just been thinking," Faith said with a knowing look.

"Always a bad sign," Tal retorted with a smirk.

"And I've been going over in my head every time we've been in a tough spot, how you two look at each other. Just stolen glimpses that you don't even realize you're doing at all. You're both in a line of duty where you could both die at any moment, and I'm betting that you two feel real close after all the times you've saved each other's lives."

Tal was decent enough to look embarrassed. "I don't know what you're going on about, Faith, but if you think Vira and I are going to put the mission in jeopardy…"

"Oh, no! Not at all," Faith said. "It's just that being a Jedi is like being a monk in Tibet. All work and no play. Even when you have time off, you have a code you have to live by. And I want more."

Faith shed her outer robe and sashayed up to Tal and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I want you, Tal. I don't want to go out on some random planet somewhere and not be with you before I die."

"Faith…" Vira growled dangerously.

"What is it, Vira?" Faith asked innocently. "The Major has always been a gentleman, and I've always been a bit of a wild child. I kind of think that opposites attract. What do you think, Tal?"

Despite his dark complexion, Faith could see Tal visibly blush. "W-well, Faith… Not to be rude, b-but while you're a great fighter and a b-beautiful woman, I just don't s-see us going down that path t-together."

"Why not?" Faith cooed. "It's not like there's someone else you'd rather be with, is there?"

"N-no!" Tal said too quickly. "W-well, yes. There is, I think. B-but I don't know… There's a hundred regs that say we shouldn't. And I…"

Faith felt Vira grab her by the shoulders and shove her aside and onto the floor.

"Tal," Vira Septus said, "just shut up."

And she kissed him with all the passion that had built up over who-knew how many years.

Tal's eyes went wide for a split second before he gently wrapped his arms around Vira and held her close, returning her kiss.

Faith chuckled without bothering to get up from the floor. "Feeling better now, kids?"

Tal snapped back into focus and looked at Faith with shock. "I'm so sorry, Faith. I didn't mean to-"

"Vira," Faith interrupted. "Take the major back to his cabin and consider yourselves both off-duty. I'll use that Jedi mind trick if I have to."

"That won't be necessary," Vira said with a smirk. "This way, Major Cortland. You and I are going to rehearse for our court martial if the brass ever finds out just how bad we've been."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tal said with a smile as he leaped to attention in more ways than one. "Jedi Faith, the ship is yours for the next-"

"However long it takes, big boy," Vira said as she dragged the Major into his cabin and slammed the door behind her.

* * *

The holocommunicator in the main cabin started to beep, signaling an incoming transmission. Tal and Vira, as staunch guardians of the Republic, were preoccupied with matters of galactic importance, so Faith moved over to take the call herself. The ship's droid had taught her the bare minimum she needed to know to operate the console.

The blue light of the holoprojector flickered into the visage of Satele Shan. "Faith, how are you feeling?" the Grand Master of the Jedi Order asked.

Despite their vast differences in rank and experience, Satele was someone that Faith felt comfortable being honest with. "I'm still trying to come to terms with everything, Master. I think I'm starting to accept that things are the way they are, y'know? I never really got the whole 'there is no death' thing before, but I'm starting to understand it a bit better now. I mean, I still wish Master Ralto was still here, but I'm not gonna waste my life trying to fix something that ain't really broke."

"I understand," Satele said. "I have no wish to sound patronizing, but I do know what you're going through. One of the Masters I trained with as a Padawan learner – his name was Kao Cen Darach – gave his life to buy me time to escape and warn the Republic of the Empire's return when the Sith retook Korriban. I felt his death in the Force while I was holding off Imperial fighters."

Faith looked down, not sure that she could look the Grand Master of the Jedi Order in the eye right now. "I'm sorry, Master. I don't… How did you handle it, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It was hard for a long time," Satele confessed. "Master Kao was one of the most dedicated and principled Jedi I have ever known, and a part of me felt that I should have been the one to give him time to escape. And I grieved for him. It is easy to recite the Jedi Code, and it is even easy to believe in it. Living by the Code, however, is far more difficult, especially when faced with the loss of someone so close to you."  
Faith could only nod silently while she tried to regain the use of her voice. "H-how did you move past it?"

"By the time Master Kao's death really hit me, the galaxy was at war. I was finishing my training as a Padawan learner, and then I was helping to support Republic troops across the galaxy. It took a long time for me to come to terms with my Master's death, but when I did, I realized that so long as I remembered him and carried his teachings with me, a part of him would always live on."

"Thank you, Master," Faith said sincerely. Not normally one to call anyone by such a title, Satele Shan had earned it in Faith's eyes. As had Ralto, if only posthumously. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to focus on finding the Purge Engine and shutting it down. A wise Jedi Master once told me that dwelling too much on grief can lead you down a dark path."

"I'm glad that Master Ralto's teachings are giving you comfort and guidance," Satele said. "And you're right, of course. There are more pressing matters at hand. We've analyzed the map you recovered from Nar Shaddaa, and we're fairly certain that the next piece of the puzzle is somewhere on Balmorra. The world is…"

"It's under Imperial occupation," Faith said, cutting off the Jedi Master. "It was never a Republic world, since they liked their independence, but the Republic is helping the people there fight back against the Empire in secret, right? And the Sith are there for all of the weapon and droid factories."

"That's correct," Satele said, sounding impressed. "Have you been reading up on the history of the war?"

"Not exactly," Faith confessed. "It's just that-"

Faith's thoughts were broken by a loud banging coming from Tal Cortland's quarters, followed by a highly audible moan from the same area.

"Is everything all right, Faith?" Satele asked carefully.

"Oh, sure! Everything's fine!" Faith said as she tried to suppress a smirk. "As for… We were talking about Balmorra, right?"

"Yes, we were," Satele said skeptically.

"Right. Well, Lieutenant Septus grew up there, and she gave me a bit of-"

Another banging of metal and an incredibly audible gasp – curse her Slayer- and Force-enhanced hearing – interrupted Faith again.

"She, uh, gave me some background info on the place, yeah," Faith finished.

Satele's brow furrowed. "Faith, is everything all right on your ship? Do you need a maintenance crew to go over the systems again?"

"No! No, that's fine, Master Shan."

"Master Satele, please," the Grand Master said with a gentle smile.

Faith chuckled nervously. She was happy for Tal and Vira, and she had to admire their stamina. All the same, it was going on four hours since they'd locked themselves in there!

"Faith?"

"Sorry, Master Satele," Faith said quickly. "Um, no maintenance required. It's not the ship. It's, um… Well, Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus have been on edge since we got back from Nar Shaddaa, and I thought-"

An ear-splitting scream disrupted yet another of Faith's sentences.

"And I thought," Faith continued, "that they could use some help. They're not Jedi, but I was sort of a soldier back home, so I taught them some, uh, relaxation techniques to help them get the stress out of their systems and prepare for what's coming next, y'know?"

Grand Master Satele Shan simply smirked knowingly. "I think I do understand, Faith. Do you think these, uh, relaxation techniques from Earth will hinder the mission?"

"Not at all," Faith said with a smirk of her own. "I think it'll help focus them and give them more incentive to fight and to live."

Satele looked like she was biting back a chuckle. "They aren't mine to command, but I can advise you, Faith, to make sure that they don't take any unnecessary risks for the sake of… relaxation."

"They're pros, Master Satele. They'll get the job done just like they-"

Another slamming of a body against metal came from Tal's quarters.

"-just like they always do. Over and over and over again, it seems."

"I see," Satele said knowingly. "Please be sure that they are ready to leave as soon as possible, Faith. Given what we know about how this map is updated, it's possible – I'd say probable – that the Empire is aware of your destination. Colonel Walburn has sent me a message – co-authorized by the Supreme Commander of the Republic Military – for you to relay to any Republic forces on Balmorra. The message is basically an order telling them to aid you in whatever way you need, Faith. I trust you not to abuse that power."

Despite the kind tone behind the Grand Master's words, Faith could hear the gentle warning as well. "I totally understand, Master. Send us the message, and I'll get the droid to make sure it gets uploaded properly while I go, uh, un-relax Tal and Vira."

"You don't need to go into the details with me, Faith," Satele said gently. "I trust you to do both what is right and what needs to be done. Just make sure you-"

Satele Shan, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, was interrupted by an ear-splitting scream coming from Major Cortland's quarters. It could never have been mistaken for a cry of pain.

"You were saying, Master?" Faith said with a smirk, holding back a laugh.

For her part, Satele Shan just smiled knowingly. "Please, Faith, trust in yourself and in your friends. You are all good people, and I hope you realize that as you go into this conflict."

Faith nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Master Satele. I guess I need to go get my team ready now."

"Of course, Faith. May the Force be with you. Satele out."

The holographic blue image of the Jedi Master flickered out of existence as the communication ended.

Faith smirked as she walked over to Tal's berth and pounded on the door loudly. "Hey! You two had both better shower while you still can. You're soldiers of the Republic, so you need to look all presentable and such, right?"

Tal's voice was just audible through the durasteel door. "Just another five minutes!"

Faith had to bite back another laugh. "No, major]. Now! We have a mission, and you two have been at it for about four hours now. And besides," Faith said with an evil smirk, "Master Satele said that Colonel Walburn would be calling within the half-hour, and you know how he is when it comes to rules and regulations, right?"

That little lie got the two soldiers' attention, and Faith was content to hear them moving quickly to dress themselves.

Her task complete, Faith walked calmly back to her own small room to meditate until her two friends were ready to head out.

* * *

From space, Balmorra seemed, in Faith's eyes, like what Mars might have been like if it supported life. It was mostly a ball of rust-tinted red, but there were enough clouds, water, and some greenery here and there to indicate a habitable ecosystem, if not a luxurious one.

While the C2-type droid had piloted the ship into the system, Faith and Tal had watched from the cockpit as the planet had come into view, mostly to give Vira some comfort as she came back to her homeworld for the first time in seventeen years. They had had to land aboard an orbital platform to take a shuttle down to the planet's surface; the main Republic base wasn't large enough to support a landing ship the size of their BT-7 Thunderclap.

All three companions kept silent during the trip down to the planet's surface, and Faith kept looking to Vira for some sort of reaction. The one-eyed soldier looked even more the steely soldier than usual, and Faith was guessing that this homecoming wasn't exactly something that Vira had been counting on.

The landing platform for the shuttle was just a skeletal construction atop a shallow lake, and a speeder was waiting to take them to the Republic's forward operating base in the Markaran Plains. Faith saw a number of Republic troops running battle drills as they flew overhead. She guessed that the Empire controlled some part of the continent on the other side of the Plains.

When the speeder finally deposited them at the outdoor section of the forward operating base, Vira jumped out of the speeder, got to her knees, and kissed the grass at her feet.

Faith recalled reading while in prison about similar practices back on Earth. "Good to be back?" she asked, breaking the long silence.

Vira stood up and took a deep breath. "Too soon to tell. It won't really be home until the Empire is gone for good. Then again, they've been here my entire life, so I guess it kind of is just like old times?"

Tal put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "We'll do all we can, Vira, I promise. We may not win Balmorra back today, but it will happen."

Vira smiled wanly and smacked Tal's chestplate gently. "Bet you say that to every girl you fight with," she jested.

Major Cortland simply smiled quietly. Faith doubted that the eternal gentleman that was Tal Cortland would have a witty comeback ready at hand.

"All right, then," Faith said. "Let's find out who's in charge here, get in, then get out. I know you probably want to stay and fight here, Vira, but we've got bigger things to worry about. And no, I'm not saying that taking your home back is anything small. Just that… Hell, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do," Vira grumbled. "I don't like it, but I get you."

"All right, then. Now, I still don't know how to tell who's got what rank and such, so you'll have to help me out here," Faith said. "Tal, I think you're up."

"Right. Corporal! Over here a moment!" Tal shouted at a nearby soldier.

A haggard-looking brunette girl – she couldn't have been much older than twenty – hurried over to the three fighters and snapped to attention. "Major?"

"At ease, Corporal," Tal said gently. "I'm looking for the officer in charge here. Can you point me to him or her?"

The poor girl looked incredibly nervous, and Faith guessed that the fighting had been heavier than the relative quiet they were experiencing right now. "Sir, the general likes to fight on the front lines. He went out with a patrol a few hours ago. They're due back within the next quarter hour, sir, if all goes according to plan."

Tal smiled gently at the young soldier. "A word of advice, Corporal: nothing ever goes according to plan. Is there any way we can recognize this general, aside from officer's bars?"

The young woman winced at what Faith was sure had been intended as helpful advice. "Sir, the general carries a large vibrosword into combat. He knows how to use it, too. I've never seen him with his helmet off, but I don't think he's human, sir. Helmet is the wrong shape and size. Couldn't tell you what he is. He also doesn't use his name much. Just prefers 'General' or 'Sir.'"

"Of course, it's never that easy," Tal said to himself. "Thank you for your help, Corporal. That'll be all."

The young brunette snapped to attention again. "Yes, sir," she said before hustling back to her duties.

"She's a bit young to be a corporal, don't you think?" Vira said after the girl had left.

"Looks like they're really short-handed here," Tal said. "They're probably taking anyone they can get from the local populace. The Empire's pretty well dug-in here, but it looks like we're gaining ground, however slowly."

Vira scowled. "We'll stick it out for as long as it takes. If we don't, then point me at the senator who pulled us out of here and give me a few minutes alone with him."

"Hey! Chill out, Vira," Faith said sharply. "You're tense, I get it. Just pace or do some drills or something to let off steam while we wait. If you're gonna run yourself into the ground, do it some other time, okay?"

The lieutenant looked ready to throw a fit, but after a few tense seconds just walked away towards a hastily-constructed firing range.

"Will she be okay?" Faith asked Tal.

"I think so," the major said. "Vira's the kind of soldier who builds up all of her tension and anger and the lets it loose on the enemy. She'll be fine when push comes to shove, don't worry."

"Friendlies incoming!" a male voice shouted from the edges of the encampment.

Faith and Tal turned their eyes towards the direction of the shout and saw what looked like a squad of ten or fifteen soldiers walking back towards the base at a calm and steady pace. The soldier in the lead had an incredibly large sword strapped to his back that was very visible even with most of his body obstructing the view of the weapon.

"They don't look too stressed out," Faith noticed. "Guess these guys know what they're doing."

"We'll wait until they get settled before jumping on the general," Tal said. "We don't want to step on any toes if we can avoid it."

The squad of soldiers didn't look terribly harried or bloody or even dirty. Faith guessed that they had just gone on a scouting mission or something else that hadn't required direct combat. The white-armored men and women were talking casually amongst themselves as they were welcomed back into the base.

Faith tried to keep a respectful distance, but she knew the moment the General saw her and started walking in her direction. Whether it was her inner Slayer or else an insight from the Force that was telling her this, she somehow knew that this general recognized her already.

It wasn't long before the general was standing right in front of her, and Faith was impressed by how well he managed what looked like an incredibly heavy sword in addition to his bulky body armor.

"Jedi Faith Lehane," the general said as if appraising Faith. His voice was distorted from equipment inside of his helmet. "I've been following your exploits carefully these past few months. I can't wait to see what's brought you over here."

Faith's guard was instantly up. "Been keeping tabs on me? You a spy or something? Trying to make sure that the new girl doesn't mess up and start a war or something?"

"No, nothing like that," the General said, his voice indicating a smile. "Let's step into the command tend. Major Cortland, you're welcome to accompany us. Is Lieutenant Septus still with you?"

Tal snapped to attention like the good solider he was. "Sir, Lieutenant Septus is currently training at your firing range."

"Very well, then. You there, private," the general said to a white-armored soldier. "Go find Lieutenant Vira Septus at the firing range and bring her here. You'll recognize her by the burn marks and metal eyepatch on the left side of her face."

"Yes, sir!" the soldier said before scurrying off.

"While we wait, allow me to be perfectly blunt with you, Jedi Faith. I have little patience for Jedi as a rule, and I make a point of avoiding the Order as much as possible. You are only a blip on my radar by a freak coincidence, nothing more. I suspect you have some sort of order from on high to compel my cooperation. I'll tell you right now that I won't like it if that is the case, but I'll do my duty and get the job done."

Faith nodded her understanding. "Jedi aren't the most approachable bunch for the most part. S'long as we can get the job done without killing each other, you won't hear any complaining from me."

"I'm glad to hear it. Ah, and I see Lieutenant Septus has joined us."

Vira walked into the command tent and saluted. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, all of you. I just wanted to get you all together before I formally introduced myself. I've been following all three of you since you started traveling together, and I've been following Jedi Faith's exploits on Tython from before that."

The general reached up and removed his helmet to reveal a blue Nautolan face that Faith would have recognized anywhere.

"My name is Kalkos Nalarn. I was hoping that, before we started our mission, you could tell me about my twin brother, Ralto."


	27. Buffy XIII - The Hand In The Dark

**Buffy XIII - The Hand In The Dark**

* * *

Buffy gazed through the tinted transparisteel window of the enclosed speeder as the Juran Mountains passed outside in a blur. Snow-covered grass threw a glare from the bright morning sun, dimmed by the dark tint of the window, as she rode with Thriss and Dalen. Loslar was acting as their chauffeur, which suited Buffy just fine.

"How do you know this Sith again, Buffy?" Thriss asked carefully.

Buffy laughed harshly. "He's a Sith in blood only. I met a pair of acolytes at the academy on Korriban. They were the same two acolytes that Darth Arctis forced me to kill, actually. Anyway, Loslar was trying to bully them into finishing his trials for him. He came from a wealthy family, so he used his influence to get two more powerful twin Sith to act as his minions."

"I take it you intervened in this conflict?"

"Sure did," Buffy said. "I confronted them in the catacombs and got Loslar to squirm. It was really too easy. He was never cut out to be Sith. He wanted everything to just come to him on its own, but real Sith have to sweat and bleed to gain their power. The twins ended up dead as an unintended side effect, and Loslar was gone from the academy within a day."

"And yet you told him to expect you when you became a Sith Lord," Thriss noted. "Was that a display of confidence, or did you experience some form of precognition through the Force?"

"Neither, really," Buffy admitted. "I was sort of hedging my bets a bit. I wanted to have myself be known and respected immediately if I ever did become a Sith Lord. Maybe the Force was guiding me. I hear it can do things like that."

"It would not surprise me in the least," Dalen commented. "You were correct to establish your supremacy when you did. It would not do well for him to forget his place for one moment."

"I must disagree with you there, Lord Dalen," Thriss said softly.

Buffy sensed more unease in Thriss's thoughts than she was letting on aloud. "What's wrong, Thriss? You can tell me. No judgment here."

The lovely Chiss woman sighed, and Buffy felt those glowing red eyes look at her in a way she hadn't seen before. Respect, lust, and adoration were common features on that blue face. This worrying look was new.

"I have grown to know and admire you, Buffy. You have the power of a Sith Lord, but you also have the insights and perspectives of a unique individual, and those make you truly amazing."

"I sense a 'but' coming," Buffy said carefully.

"You are correct, in essence," Thriss said. "Your brutal handling of Loslar in the Thul palace was not something I expected of you. Even if you had just been putting him in his place, I would have understood; but it went beyond a Sith reprimand. You enjoyed making him suffer, Buffy. Even if I hadn't felt it in the Force, it was obvious that you took pleasure in hurting him. You even spoke of your enjoyment aloud.

"It pained me to see you act in such a repugnant manner," Thriss said bluntly. "I felt as if I was going to be ill."

Buffy felt as though she'd been slapped across the face. She'd been called many things in her day, and most of those things had been haphazard insults thrown by demons who were about to be slain. Even at her darkest and most uncertain, even when her friends had thrown her out of her own home, they had never been unkind about anything.

To have Thriss – her apprentice and lover who practically worshiped the ground she tread – call her 'repugnant' was unthinkable to Buffy.

Part of her wanted to reach out and choke Thriss with the Force for the insult. The moment came and went, and Buffy felt herself go cold at what she had thought about doing and why she'd considered it.

Loslar had been a bully, yes, but he'd been a poor one. He was a powerless sap who was probably not worth the time and effort to put down, and yet Buffy had done more than put him in his place. She'd tortured him and enjoyed herself while doing so.

Dalen broke the silence. "Lord Sunhome acted as was appropriate for a Lord of the Sith. She established her superiority and fueled her power in the Dark Side of the Force in the process. She is becoming more Sith as time goes on, and you would do well to heed her example."

"That is precisely my fear, Lord Dalen," Thriss countered. "Buffy may be more Sith than she was, this is true. I am afraid, however, that as she becomes more Sith, she will become less Buffy, so to speak."

Buffy snapped out of her haze and took a moment to reestablish her presence in the Force. "All right, enough," she said harshly. "I get what you're saying, both of you. Before anything else, I am Buffy Summers. Only after that am I Sith. I am both, however, so get used to it. You're both going to have to give me some slack. I'm never going to be the ideal Sith, Shar, but neither will I be the ideal woman you want me to be, Thriss. I'm my own person, and you'll have to deal with who she is."

"Do you know who you are, Buffy?" Thriss asked bluntly.

The blonde Slayer looked at the Chiss with a patient smile. "I'm working on that. Have been for years. We'll see how it turns out."

Another forty minutes passed before Loslar signaled that they had arrived at the entrance to the Dark Hive. Buffy wasn't sure if someone as weak in the Force as Loslar could even know where their destination was, but the briefest glance of the area told her that they had definitely arrived.

The hive itself was a layered mound of rounded soil and stone that looked vaguely like petrified wood from a distance. At ground level, however, the plants were twisted and desiccated. Even the snow seemed to have an unnatural, darkish tint to it.

An open arch into the hive looked to be the only entrance.

Buffy had thought about Thriss's reaction to her handling of Loslar, and while she had to admit that she had gone a bit out there, she couldn't exactly pretend that Loslar was someone that she liked or even someone who deserved to be treated equally. He was a bully without any power to back up his boorish attitudes, and now karma was going to bite him in the ass.

"You first, little nothing," Buffy said coldly. She didn't feel the need to use the Force on him. He already feared her enough to do as she said.

Surely enough, Loslar rushed to obey and slowed his pace as they crossed the threshold into the hive proper.

"There are no Killiks guarding the entrance," Dalen mused aloud. "They must be waiting deeper inside."

"Is this normal behavior for Killiks?" Thriss asked.

"I don't believe so. Be on your guard. The Dark Side is strong in this place."

"Yeah, no kidding," Buffy remarked. The air was stale and cold, and not in the natural way that Alderaan's mountain air was cold. This place reminded her more of the Imperial Citadel than anywhere else.

The tunnel – about the size of the hallways back at Sunnydale High School – sloped downward, and the three Sith followed Loslar as he faithfully guided them down into the depths off the hive, which was lit by luminescent bulbs of some unknown biological material. They came to a few forking paths, but Buffy simply ordered Loslar down a certain route after reaching out with the Force to find the right way.

After about an hour of walking, according to Buffy's chronometer, a wave of sensation hit her like a tidal wave of freezing water.

"I believe we are approaching the bulk of the hive," Thriss said.

"That much is plain," Dalen said, but he was audibly nervous enough that his words held no rebuke. "We must all be on our guard."

Buffy nodded silently and kept going. Loslar started to slow down a few times, but Buffy pushed him with the Force to keep him going. He might be a weakling, but Loslar still had a minute connection to the Force, and even he had to be feeling the darkness in this place.

The walls of the tunnel gave way to an enormous cavern filled with bipedal insects lining the walls at all levels. None of them bore any weapons, and the ground of the cave was empty save for a throne carved out of some unknown material, atop which sat a robed figure that radiated power.

And then, the cavern spoke.

"Lord Sunhome," said each of hundreds of Killiks simultaneously, "Your pet has no place here. Send him away."

There was so much power in the words that Buffy didn't even think of disobeying. The words came from all around her, but the sheer presence of the words came from the robed figure in the center of the room.

Buffy made a tiny gesture with the Force through her hand, and Loslar immediately scurried out of the cavern and back towards the surface.

"Now then," the cavern said in a cold monotone, "we can begin. Lord Sunhome, Lord Dalen, Mitth'ris'sintar, welcome to Servant Six."

The robed figure rose from the throne and threw back its cowl, revealing a red-skinned male of the Sith species with prominent cheek protrusions and a head of short-cut reddish-black hair. "We are Servant Six," the cavern spoke. "Do you know what we are?"

Buffy found her voice first. "You're a Killik hive with a lot of power in the Dark Side," she said. "But I think you mean something more than that."

"You are perceptive, Lord Sunhome," the cavern said in its creepy monotone. "The individual Sith male in the center of this room was and is a part of the Emperor's Hand. He was and is in constant contact with the Emperor of all Sith. When Servant Six of the Emperor's Hand was Joined to this Hive, the Hive became Servant Six. Through us, the Emperor sees and hears you. You are in His presence even now."

The power behind Servant Six's words left no doubt that he/it/them was telling the complete truth, and Buffy could sense the deification of the Emperor in his servant's words. Buffy did not want to think of the Emperor as anything more than a very powerful Sith, so when Dalen moved to bow, Buffy grabbed him by the shoulder and kept him upright. "We understand, Servant Six," Buffy said to the cavern.

Part of her was proud of her minor act of rebellion in preventing Dalen's bow, but mostly she was terrified. Despite her distinctly anti-authoritarian personality, she couldn't help but be afraid of the Emperor's power. Even if he wasn't physically present, a part of him was speaking through hundreds of vessels that could turn on them in an instant. He might not be a god, but Buffy had met plenty of powerful beings in her time that were fell far short of being divine entities.

"What is it that you think you understand, Lord Sunhome?" the hive asked.

"I understand," Buffy said carefully, "that if I don't do exactly as you tell me, then I will probably never make it out of here alive. You'll either kill me or make me a Joiner. I don't intend to lose my life or my will, so we will all do as you command, Master."

Now, Buffy did bow from the waist, and she felt Dalen and Thriss follow her lead. Powerful this hive might be, but Buffy would not bend her knee to anyone ever again. Darth Arctis had expected that of her when she was weaker, but now he was dead and she was a Sith Lord. She resented having to call anyone 'Master,' but Buffy knew enough to realize that if she wasn't very careful, she would soon be very dead.

"You understand correctly, Lord Sunhome," the multitude of voices said as one. "We are aware that you seek a means to locate the Purge Engine here on Alderaan. It is the Emperor's will that this weapon be found and brought under His domain. He sought to examine the Rakata ruins here through us, but Rakata technology inhibits the hive mind to the point of killing anyone linked to it, be they Killik or Joiner. We require and demand that you enter the ruin and find the Purge Engine."

At the far end of the cavern, a number of Killiks scurried out of the way of a section of wall that revealed another tunnel.

"Go now," the hive of Servant Six commanded. "We will await your return."

Buffy nodded and bolted for the door that led towards the ancient ruin. She didn't care that she was making a scene that the Emperor himself might be privy to: She just wanted to be out of that cavern and that horrible darkness.

As she caught her breath, Buffy was joined by Dalen and Thriss, both of whom were visibly distraught.

"In my entire life," Dalen said breathlessly, "I never thought I would ever see the Emperor Himself! This is… This is almost more than I can handle."

"I do not believe we met the Emperor in person," Thriss said rationally, but her voice was shaking. "Servant Six said he was merely in contact with the Emperor before he was Joined, and now the entire hive acts as an extension of Servant Six."

"And that doesn't bother you, Thriss?" Buffy said. "That the Emperor can basically override the collective will of an entire Killik hive through a middle-man?"

"He is quite formidable," Thriss conceded. "I underestimated the scope of the Emperor's power. I will not do so again."

"Me neither," Buffy said hurriedly. "Come on. Let's get what we came for. And if we don't, let's please die down there, because I don't want to go back in that cave and tell whatever that is back there that we failed the Emperor."

"Agreed," Dalen said. "One either does the Emperor's will or dies trying. There is no middle ground."

"Then let's do it and get out of here," Buffy said. "Come on, before I puke my guts out."

* * *

Buffy felt as though she was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Behind her was the oppressive coldness of the Emperor, and before her was the possibly-equally evil remnant of another Empire that would hopefully lead her to the Purge Engine. There was just one problem.

Being in the presence of the Emperor, even if it had been just an extension of his will, had shaken Buffy in a way she hadn't expected. She had known that the Sith were beings of passion and emotion and conflict, and that was okay with her.

Back in the hive of Servant Six, however, there was no emotion or passion or conflict. There had only been a single, overriding will that demanded utter obedience or else a surely painful death. Whatever the Emperor was – even if Servant Six was just a telepathically-bound minion – he was beyond what most people would normally classify as Sith. As followers of the Dark Side, the Sith were naturally creatures of darkness on some level. Buffy understood that and even embraced it, what with the Slayer being a similar creature.

The Emperor was not a dark being: He was a void. Dark and light felt irrelevant back in that cavern, and at the very least, the ancient ruins that Buffy kept returning to had the feel of reality to them. They were grounded in something tangible that the Emperor was not.

Buffy sincerely hoped that she never again had to face the Sith Emperor in any sort of manifestation. Part of her was afraid that she wouldn't be able to refuse him if he ever found her again.

That fear pushed her forward silently, and Buffy found only a little solace in the familiar sensations of Dalen and Thriss in the Force around her.

They had been trekking further downward for half an hour since leaving the hive cavern. The passageway they were in opened into another large cave that housed a structure at the far end that looked just like the one they had encountered on Csilla.

The ruin surprised them all by opening its stone double doors as they approached.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Buffy said. "Let's keep going, but be on your guard."

"As you say, Buffy," Thriss agreed.

"Let us be swift," Dalen said.

Buffy led the way and walked further into the stone structure, but she found no second door like the Csilla ruin, nor any droid or any sign of architecture at all. Only darkness waited in front of them, and their flashlights would not guide them any further.

Buffy opened herself up to the darkness, closed her eyes, and stepped forward.

Her eyes opened into a completely alien scenario.

She was in a cavern of some sort. It was far larger than the Killik hive, and there was enormous alien machinery that gave off bolts of strange-colored energy in the distance.

A moment of insight from the Force was her only warning as Buffy leaped to the side and evaded a hail of blaster bolts. Buffy traced the blasts to a red-haired Republic soldier bearing an eyepatch. A dark-skinned male soldier with a heavy assault cannon was sending blast after blast at Dalen.

Buffy danced away from another burst of blaster fire and ignited her lightsaber. She charged the redhead, bobbing and weaving between the blaster bolts until she got close enough to stab the woman in the gut, sending her to the ground in pain and blood.

On the other side of the room, Dalen battled the soldier with the assault cannon. Dalen was moving closer and closer while deflecting powerful blasts of energy. The hail of fire stopped long enough for Dalen to charge at his foe, but Buffy sensed the soldier's guile.

Too late, Dalen walked right into the waiting grenade, and both soldier and Sith went flying backwards, dead before they hit the ground.

The hum of a lightsaber blade got Buffy to turn and cross her red blade with a blue one.

Both warriors looked each other in the eye and each found a Sister Slayer in the other's gaze.

Buffy froze. This was Faith… Her Faith. And she was holding a Jedi's weapon. How could she fight such a person? Then again, how could she not? The Jedi were an enemy of everything that Buffy believed in, and they had to be destroyed.

But it was Faith!

Her moment of indecision allowed Thriss to sneak up and jab Faith with her electrostaff, channeling a current of energy into the Slayer-Jedi's body.

Faith let out a wave of telekinesis with the Force, and Buffy was sent flying backwards.

Thriss was more nimble and landed on her feet before charging again.

The two women were locked in mortal combat with one another, and Buffy couldn't decide which one she wanted to win. She couldn't side with either one over the other without losing something precious.

Dalen was already gone, his body lying on the ground shattered and broken.

"Broken…"

That word snapped Buffy into a revelation. Without Dalen to guide her, she would no longer be forced to adhere to his personal worldview of the Sith. She only had Thriss to guide her now, and she would try to keep Buffy from fully realizing her power.

And Faith… For all their history together, Faith was a Jedi now, and the Jedi would never learn.

"Through victory," Buffy said as she threw her lightsaber.

The scarlet blade arced through the air and lopped off the heads of both Thriss and Faith in one fell swoop before returning to her hand.

"…my chains are broken."

Buffy stood alone in the cavern of stone, metal, and energy, and she realized that to stand alone was to stand supreme.

No wonder the Emperor was so powerful.

With a flash of light, the vision disappeared, and Buffy found herself facing a glowing star map once again.

"What just happened?" Thriss shouted from behind Buffy.

"I don't know," Dalen's voice said. "Buffy, are you there?"

"I'm at the map," she called back to her friends, not entirely sure she wanted to trust in the vision she'd just had. "Can't you get to me?"

"We cannot," Thriss said. "We hear you, but we cannot see you."

"Download the map and let's get out of here," Dalen said quickly.

Buffy nodded. "Right. Got that datapad right… Here!"

As she pulled out her datapad, the star map lit up with another small dot before turning into a funnel of light that poured into her datapad and left the screen glowing with a white light that still felt dark somehow.

A high-pitched laugh called out from all around Buffy. Unlike the echoing of Servant Six's hive, this was only one voice. "Excellent! Well done!" the voice said.

"What are you?" Buffy demanded.

"Nothing more than a remnant of a ghost, locked inside of a machine. I have waited endlessly for this day, and now it has come! You and the other have completed the map, and now the way to the Purge Engine is laid bare. Find it, use it, and the revenge of the Rakata will be complete!"

"I've had it with these vague prophecies!" Buffy shouted. "Tell me what the Purge Engine is! And who is this 'other?'"

"I do not know the details," the voice said as it laughed. "I might have once, long ago, but all I know now is that the last hope for revenge rests in that weapon. I know that it is a weapon, and I know that it will bring death to the enemies of the Infinite Empire. As for the other, all I know is that there is another who has helped to show you the way, just as you have shown the way to them."

Buffy nodded reluctantly. "So someone else knows how to find the Purge Engine, great. Who were these enemies of yours that you want us to destroy?"

"You will learn, young one," the voice said with what would have been a knowing smirk if a sound could make a face. "Go now and see that our revenge is complete!"

A rush of air picked up Buffy and threw her out of the ruin. She landed on her back alongside Thriss and Dalen, and the double doors to the ruin sealed themselves with an ominous crunch of stone against stone.

"Come on," Buffy said. "Let's get out of here. I can't wait to be off this planet."

"What did you see in there, Buffy?" Thriss asked. "We heard muffled voices, but we didn't hear what you were talking to, or what you said."

"And how did you gain access to the data?" Dalen asked.

Buffy didn't know how to answer. Had she seen a future in which she fought against Faith? Was it just a metaphor? Who were the two soldiers?

And why had she been so certain that she had to kill Faith, Thriss, and even Dalen had he still been alive?

"I don't know," Buffy answered with some honesty. "But I think the easy part of our little quest is winding down."

"What do you mean? Thriss asked.

"I mean that we're done looking for pieces of a puzzle. This was the last obstacle between us and the Purge Engine," Buffy said. "But the ruin mentioned that someone else had found it as well."

"The Republic?" Dalen guessed.

"Maybe," Buffy said carefully. "All I know is that the time for guesswork is over. We're going to the Purge Engine, but it probably won't just be us trying to claim it.

"We're heading into the endgame, lady and gent. Let's pray we're ready for it."


	28. Faith XIII - A Child Underfoot

**Faith XIII - A Child Underfoot**

* * *

Faith had expected to get to Balmorra, meet some stuffy military type who would give them some aid and point them in the general direction of the nastiest badness on the planet, then they would find another ancient ruin, and that would be that. She had most certainly not expected for the General in charge of the Republic forces here to be her dead Master's twin brother.

Faith had also not expected to discover that Ralto had been taken from his family shortly after birth to train as a Jedi so that he wouldn't have to deal with any attachments. General Kalkos Nalarn clearly had no love for the Jedi, but he had kept tabs on his brother all the same over the years, and now he wanted to hear about the twin he'd never known from the three people who had been with him when he died.

"When I first met him," Faith said, "I thought he was a demon. I'd never seen a Nautolan before, so I tried to kill him with a shovel, if I remember right. He just disarmed me and made sure I was taken care of, and then he decided to train me."

"That seems strange," Kalkos said thoughtfully. "How did he know he could trust you?"

"I don't know," Faith admitted. "Maybe he didn't. The Force can be really weird sometimes. Sometimes it tells you things that aren't ever clear, even in hindsight. Whatever he saw in me, he had to deal with a lot of crap. Ralto was always proper and polite, and here I was fresh off the streets, cussing like a sailor with no patience for authority."

Kalkos chuckled. "I remember being like that when I first joined the military. The drill sergeants kept trying to put me down, and I kept shouting back at them. Took a while for me to get how things worked."

Faith laughed along with the Nautolan general. "Yeah, well Ralto just took it all in stride, patient as anything. You could tell he was tired as shit, but he just tried to let it flow as best he could. That's how he was: He accepted things as they were, never tried to force a change that wouldn't come naturally."

"You make my brother sound like a good man, Jedi Faith. What about you, Major? Lieutenant? Do you agree with Faith's assessment?"

"Yes, sir," Tal said with a small smile. "Master Ralto was always fair and just when I dealt with him. A bit strange, but I guess that's because he was a Jedi."

"I agree, sir," Vira said. "I didn't agree with his choices all of the time, but he never passed judgment or looked down on us. I'm sorry we couldn't keep him alive, sir."

Kalkos waved an armored hand. "The battlefield is always changing, and a Jedi Master knows the score better than most, even if I don't like to admit it. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. It's good to know that my brother was doing some good out there, even if I never knew him.

"I know that your rise from apprentice to Knight was something of an event, Jedi Lehane, but I don't know why, exactly," Kalkos said. "I do know that from Tython, you went to Coruscant and met up with Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus, and after that you saw battle on Taris and then Nar Shaddaa. My brother died there, fighting something on the surface there that's probably a lot worse than the standard fare for the Smuggler's Moon.

"And now, you're here," Kalkos said. He leaned his head forward and rested his chin on his hands, his fingers together in a steeple. "I don't know why, exactly, but I can't wait to hear the details."

Faith nodded and looked to her left. "Tal has… I mean that Major Cortland has the info you need. Major?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tal said professionally as he produced the datapad for the General.

Kalkos was chuckling. "You three are used to working as a unit without any real formalities, aren't you? I'd like to be that way with my men, but I think they're a bit scared of me to be honest. This sword on my back has seen too much use in this damned war, and I guess it leaves more of an impression than a blaster or a lightsaber. Do me a favor and address yourselves as you usually do. So long as you maintain proper military protocol with others – myself included – then I won't begrudge you being casual with each other. Anything that helps to lighten the mood is something that keeps men and women under stress from breaking."

"Thank you, sir," Vira said. "It's very rare to see a General who fights alongside the rank and file, if you don't mind my saying. It's refreshing, sir."

Kalkos waved one hand as the other held the datapad. "I prefer that people speak their mind so long as it doesn't get in the way of their duty. A good soldier knows when to trust in the chain of command and when to ask a question. They might not always like the answer, but it's always good to know that the people I command are still people underneath their armor. I don't care what some of the appropriations people in the Senate say, droids and clones are just no match for a real, flesh-and-blood person with a mind of their own."

Faith decided to stay silent and let the General ramble on. He seemed to have heavy opinions on just about anything, and she figured that it would be best to let him keep voicing his thoughts aloud for as long as it took. The resemblance to Ralto ended at the brothers' outer appearance, and even then, Kalkos had more scars than Ralto. The General had a raspier voice than his brother, and Faith suspected that if the two had ever met, they would have debated the merits of just about everything while agreeing on nothing.

Ralto would have welcomed such a discussion, but Faith guessed that Kalkos wouldn't be satisfied unless he won what he saw as a sort of verbal battle. Faith wondered how the two of them would have turned out if their places had been switched.

"So," Kalkos said, dropping the datapad onto the table, "you're looking for some ancient alien ruin that you think leads to a superweapon of some sort. Is that about right?"

"That's about right," Faith confirmed. "I don't suppose you might know where on Balmorra we could find it?"

"We might have something," the General admitted. "I'll send the images here to some of our intelligence analysts and have them take a look. If it's as old as you say it is, it'll probably be underground. I'd guess somewhere beneath the Balmorra Arms Factory or maybe in Bugtown. I'll send for you when we have more intel. Until then, just try not to get in the way and lend a hand if anyone asks. We have plenty of local resistance fighters who aren't Republic military that could probably use a bit of guidance here and there."

Faith nodded. "Sure thing, General."

"Very well, then. The orders on this pad are clear that this is my priority, so I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. You're dismissed until I call for you again," Kalkos said as he got to his feet and walked out of the command tent.

As soon as Faith could no longer hear the General's heavy footfalls, she turned to her two friends. "So, what do you make of this guy? You ever hear anything about him before?"

Tal shifted about in his seat. "I'd heard of him before, but I guess I never made the connection between him and Master Ralto. He was never really Ralto Nalarn to us, he was just Master Ralto."

"Same here," Vira said softly, as though ashamed to be admitting it. "What I can tell you is that General Nalarn may not be a Jedi, but he's got a reputation for getting the job done with some of the lowest casualty rates in the Republic."

"Definitely," Tal agreed. "General Nalarn has a reputation for caring about the people under his command a bit more than is proper for a commanding officer. Before he got to be a General, he'd alter the orders his higher-ups gave him if he thought it would save lives, and he usually made the right call in that respect."

"I've met a few people who've served under him," Vira said. "They all agree that he really gives a damn about everyone he's responsible for, down to the lowest grunt. He doesn't let all protocol go by the wayside, but he'll go out of his way to save a fellow soldier, no matter who that soldier is."

Faith's eyes widened slightly. She was definitely impressed. "Any rumors as to how good he is with that mammoth sword of his?" she asked.

Vira smiled viciously. "Sith Lords weep and tremble while their grunts beg for mercy when they see him coming. Or so the stories say. Bottom line: He knows how to use it, and he's used it well and often."

Faith smirked as she saw an opening. "All right, so that's Kalkos Nalarn. But I gotta know, Vira…"

"Yeah, Faith?"

"What about Tal? Does he know how to use it?"

"Faith!" Tal protested loudly.

"Well, I mean I guess he has to," Faith continued as though no one had spoken up. "I mean, I don't know if you use it well, Tal, but you sure as hell use it often. How many hours were you two at it back on the ship again?"

"Faith," Tal said uncomfortably, "just stop, please."

"You know how she is, Tal," Vira said. "She'll never shut up unless we throw her a bone. As for if Tal knows how to use his mighty sword," she said lasciviously with a smirk, "I'd say he's honed his blade technique quite finely, but he knows how to use that assault cannon, too."

Tal buried his face in his hands. "Do I have to stay here and listen to this?"

"That's how it works, Tal," Faith said cheerily.

Vira chuckled along with Faith while Tal tried to hide his growing embarrassment.

* * *

Faith was waiting by the speeder pad with Tal and Vira for their ride to show up. General Nalarn had radioed them and told them to meet him for a trip to 'Bugtown,' whatever that was, where the next alien ruin supposedly was.

"Remind me again why they call this place 'Bugtown?'"

"The Colicoids," Vira answered. "Before the war, they came to Balmorra looking to experiment on themselves with the toxic waste from all the factories. They're insectoid creatures that are usually bigger than a human by a fair margin, but they're intelligent creatures. They were hoping to mutate themselves into something better with the waste out there, but the Empire got in the way. Now, the mutant Colicoids are running around unchecked by their normal, smarter cousins, so we have a fair stretch of Balmorra infested with ravenous, carnivorous bugs.

"And to top it all off," Vira said with a sigh, "the place was the only area on Balmorra where the Empire feared to tread for a while, so the main Republic base is set up right next door."

"Look on the bright side," Tal said. "At least reinforcements won't be far behind."

"The reinforcements," General Nalarn said from behind them, "will be coming with us."

"No shit!" Faith said, genuinely surprised. "We actually get backup for a change?"

"If this mission is anywhere near as vital as my orders would have me believe, I'd be a fool to send you in there without support," Kalkos said. "We've had some success clearing out the Colicoids, but when we tried to dig deep and destroy the supports of their tunnels, they encountered a structure that definitely wasn't of Balmorran or Colicoid design."

Kalkos took out a datapad and showed them an image on it. "Look familiar?"

Faith, Tal, and Vira just nodded silently at the picture that looked nearly identical to the ruin they'd encountered on Taris.

"I thought so," Kalkos said. "I hear the speeder coming. Let's get to Bugtown, get in, and get out as fast as we can without drawing too many Colicoids on top of us."

"I like that plan," Faith said as an open-air, droid-piloted speeder landed next to her. "Let's do it."

The four of them quickly got into the speeder and took off without wasting a moment.

"Before I forget," Kalkos said from the front passenger seat, "here's what you might have to face down there."

He offered a datapad to Faith, and she took it to find a picture of a multi-legged bug with a torso and head curving back and upward from the rear of its lower body.

"That's a Colicoid. In addition to their size and strength, some of the mutants might be able to spit acid at you. I don't know if your lightsaber can deflect liquid like it can blaster bolts."

"Good thing to know," Faith said quietly. For her part, the Slayer-Jedi had never understood some people's fear of bugs. To Faith, you squished them if they troubled you, and if they didn't bother you, you just stayed away from them. These bugs might be bigger, but if they got in her way, then she'd squish them. There might be a lightsaber involved in said squishing, but it was what it was.

The speeder passed over a toxic-looking lake and landed close to where the shuttle had deposited them from orbit. There was a definite artificial construction built into a nearby cliff side – probably the Republic base – and down in a valley were mounds of dirt and acid, between which scurried a few Colicoids, which looked much larger in person than on the datapad.

"We've cleaned most of the bugs out of the immediate area," Kalkos said as he exited the speeder. "We're guessing that most of them are still underground, but we don't know how many. If you see a really big one, it's probably a queen. From what we can tell, if you don't threaten her eggs, she won't bother you. That'll be someone's unpleasant job another day, but for now, we're just going to get in and get out."

"Yeah, it's never quite that simple," Faith said. "These places tend to have all sorts of Force-based traps built into them. I'm honestly not quite sure how we've gotten past them so far."

"Probably a lot of dumb luck," Vira said.

Faith shrugged. "You know what they say: Better lucky than good, right?"

Kalkos slapped an armored hand on Faith's shoulder. "Come on, then. Let's go meet your support squad."

Faith wasn't sure how comfortable she was with Master Ralto's very different twin brother giving her such a familiar gesture of support, but she decided it was better than if he was hostile, so she went with it and walked down a path into the valley proper…

And saw several neatly-ordered rows and columns of white-armored Republic soldiers standing at attention as their General came to meet them.

"Damn," Tal said quietly. "He must've emptied the entire base to scrounge up this many soldiers. Must be two or three full platoons."

"Listen up, people!" Kalkos said as he paced in front of the gathered soldiers. "Standing with me are Major Tal Cortland, Lieutenant Vira Septus, and Jedi Knight Faith Lehane. When it comes to the Colicoids, you are the experts. You've dealt with them for months now, and you know what they're capable of.

"Beyond their nests, however, is our goal, and that's where these three come in. You are most likely not equipped to handle their objective. Get us down there safely and then back out again just as safely. And yes, I said 'us.' I'll be accompanying them on their mission, and this mission is one of galactic importance. I know you probably hear that a lot from officers and senators looking to make an impression, but if you know me, then you know I won't sugarcoat a piece of crap just to make it smell better. This mission is one that could tip the scales of the entire war. Remember your training, do your duty, stand with your brothers and sisters in arms, and we'll all come out ahead and give the Empire what's coming to them!"

The assembled soldiers let out a fierce battle cry to show that they were pumped and ready for action. Somehow, they managed to sound professional while doing so.

"Squad leaders, confer with your people and get ready to move out quickly. That's it, people. Get moving!" Kalkos barked to his troops.

Faith was silently impressed by Kalkos's leadership skills. He talked to his troops as if they were intelligent and mature soldiers – which they seemed to be – and he knew how to inspire them and get them psyched for the coming ordeal.

"You definitely have a way with people," Faith said. "I see why they pay you the big bucks."

Kalkos laughed. "I wish my salary was as big as you seem to think it is. Whatever the case, as long as my men know the score, they should be able to handle themselves. We don't have any chemical agents that can affect the bugs, so we'll have to rely on stealth where we can and brute force where we can't. You up for that?"

Faith looked to Tal and Vira and saw the steely looks in their eyes. "General, we are ready as hell."

"Stay that way for a few minutes longer, and then we'll move out."

* * *

The Colicoid nests were not quite what Faith had been expecting. They weren't like a traditional insect hive, but resembled industrial tunnels more than anything else. Kalkos had reminded her that the Colicoids who had first built these tunnels were intelligent creatures who manufactured heavy duty droids that both Republic and Empire sought to use in the war.

Thus far, Faith had managed to subtly nudge with the Force the Colicoids they had encountered, making their group seem more intimidating than they had any right to be. There were overall a lot fewer bugs than Faith had been led to believe would be here.

"The squads ahead of us have done a good job clearing out the place," Kalkos said as he caught Faith's eye. The usual trio of Faith, Tal, and Vira was joined only by Kalkos and a pair of soldiers the General had hand-picked to help him on this mission. The other squads were busy securing entrance and exit routes for them.

"I'm impressed. Again," Faith said as they passed a checkpoint of Republic soldiers standing over a group of Colicoid corpses. "A lot of dead bugs and a lot of living soldiers."

"I'm damned proud of these men and women," Kalkos said. "This planet has seen some of the fiercest fighting in the entire war, and we've kept it together all throughout. And while I don't usually like working with Jedi, you aren't like any Jedi I've ever met, Faith. You'd fit in well with us if you decide to put on the white armor."

Faith felt her cheeks heat up a bit, but it might have been the humidity in the tunnels. "I'm a fighter, always have been. And I got the best partners I could hope for right here."

"Right back at you, Faith," Tal said warmly.

Kalkos nodded. "You do seem close, and that's good. Some officers say that soldiers shouldn't get close to each other because they'll be distracted from the mission. I say it gives them a reason to fight and to live. One of the reasons why I'm not big on the Jedi for the most part."

"You wish you had a brother to grow up with, huh?" Faith asked gently.

"You're damned right I wish that!" Kalkos said more fiercely than Faith had expected. "They took him from me before I even knew he existed! How am I not supposed to be mad about that?"

"You're not," Faith said softly. "And I think it's cool that you kept tabs on him even if he never knew it. You cared about him, and you care about your soldiers. Makes you one of the good guys in my book."

Kalkos huffed appreciatively. "Thank you, Jedi Faith. And, here we are."

A squad of six soldiers guarded a large platform that looked like it was meant to descend.

"Area secure, General. No reported contact from down below, either going down or coming up."

"Well done," Kalkos said. "Have you sent a recon probe down there?"

"Yes, sir. No Colicoids near the structure. They're tunneling away from it as best we can tell."

"Good. One less obstacle. Stay here and watch our six. We won't be down there too long, if we're lucky."

"Yes, sir."

"All right, then," Kalkos said. "This way forward, everyone. Let's go."

Faith felt a chilling sense of foreboding as she stepped onto the platform. Tal and Vira were right behind her, followed by the General and his two guards.

"Going down," Kalkos said, and the lift began its descent.

Faith had to give the Colicoids credit for building all of this in what she understood to be only a few decades. Bugs they might be, but they clearly had a mind towards industry.

The journey downward took almost ten minutes before the lift began to slow and then finally stop.

There was no enormous cavern like back on Taris. There was a small opening in front of the lift, and then the stone double doors with the now-familiar emblem of the Infinite Empire.

"We'll stay here and guard the exit," Kalkos said, gesturing to his two guards. "This is your show, Faith."

"Right. Tal, Vira, let's do this."

Faith stepped forward and tried to ignore the creepy, cold feeling that the ruin was giving off in waves.

"All right," Faith said loudly. "We, um…. We seek to do the bidding of the Builders of Lehon."

That was good enough for the ruin. The double doors opened and revealed a darkness that the artificial lighting in the cave could not penetrate.

Faith let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Here we go."

"Right with you, Faith," Vira said.

Faith nodded and strode forward, trying not to let the darkness overwhelm her. Even if she'd encountered it before, it didn't stop being creepy.

Something in the Force indicated another stone door blocking their path. Faith reached out with the Force and tried to slide it open.

The door gave way slowly, as if it was pushing back against her efforts. Faith had to stop to catch her breath twice before she realized the door wasn't even halfway open yet.

"Come on, you fucker!" Faith shouted in frustration. "Open up!"

That did the trick, as the sound of stone grinding against stone told Faith that her display of anger had triggered something that her calm ministrations had not.

"Not liking this," Faith said carefully. "Onward, then."

Faith stepped forward into the darkness and felt an unnatural cold seep into her bones.

Closing her eyes to shut out the pain of the cold, Faith felt a sudden change in her surroundings.

Her eyes opened to reveal a cavern of stone and metal with colored bursts of energy surging outward from alien-looking machinery.

Standing alone in the center of the room was a masked Sith Lord holding a red lightsaber over a slew of fallen people, both Republic and Imperial.

"You did this, you know," the Sith taunted, its voice distorted through its mask. "You killed them all, because that's what you are, Faith: A killer."

"No," Faith said, bringing her own lightsaber to bear in front of her. "I don't buy that shit anymore. I messed up, yeah but that ain't me anymore."

"Of course it is," the Sith taunted. "It always will be."

Without warning, the Sith lunged at Faith from across the room, closing the meters-long distance in an instant.

The Sith's red blade crossed with Faith's blue lightsaber in a flurry of strikes and parries before Faith disengaged.

"Not gonna happen. I'm not a murderer."

"Sure you are," the Sith taunted. "Those scientists back on Taris weren't even armed, and you cut them down without a second thought. You left your Master to die on Nar Shaddaa. You might as well have been the one to cut him down yourself.

"Shut up!" Faith said, not wanting to listen to the taunts.

"He never believed in you, anyway," the Sith taunted. "You were always a failure, and he knew it. He might have humored you and let you delude yourself into believing you mattered, Faith. But he knew just as well as you do that you're nothing more than a murderer. And you always will be."

Faith let out a feral scream of rage and charged at the masked Sith. Her lightsaber technique lost all of its form and grace as she viciously slashed away at her enemy until she sliced off the hand that held the red lightsaber.

Unsated, Faith swung her weapon with both hands and sent the Sith's head flying.

The masked head rolled over on the ground, and then the mask began to dissolve.

The dead face of Buffy Summers stared up at Faith, the accusation clear in her Sister Slayer's lifeless eyes.

Faith was so shocked that she barely registered the shift in reality as Buffy's body disappeared and a glowing galaxy map took her place.

A tripedal droid spoke in a language that Faith didn't recognize, snapping her out of her haze. Tal and Vira were on their knees, but they were recovering. Faith didn't want to know what sort of ordeal they had just been put through.

The droid cycled through a few other languages, but Faith knew it would settle upon Basic sooner or later.

"You guys okay?" Faith said.

"Not really," Vira said as she got to her feet. "I will be, but not anytime soon."

Tal winced as he stood up. "That was… I don't want to go through this again."

"The final trial is complete," the droid said in Basic.

Faith turned her attention to the machine. "What does that mean?"

"The way is laid clear. You and the other have proven yourselves worthy. The way to the Purge Engine is open. You will find it and use it to deliver the ultimate revenge of the Rakata."

Faith almost laughed. "Oh, I'll find it all right. Dunno who this other is, but I guess I'll meet him soon enough. Tal, you got that pad?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's right here."

The moment Tal fished the datapad out of his pocket, the galaxy map turned into a funnel of white light and poured itself into the handheld machine.

"Go now," the droid said, "and see that the will of the Builders is done."

"Right," Faith said. "Let's get out of here."

Faith strode out away from the interior of the ruin eagerly, hoping to put the cold darkness behind her.

So why did she feel a different sort of darkness waiting for her outside the ruin?

"Stay on your toes, guys," Faith warned. "Something ain't right."

The double doors of the ruin were still open, and through them, Faith saw Kalkos Nalarn standing over the bodies of his two guards. He was holding his enormous vibrosword, and it was dripping with blood.

"I see you've managed to unlock the location of the Purge Engine," Kalkos said with a cold venom was completely unlike the man who had inspired a small legion of Republic soldiers. He felt different in the Force as well. "You've done well. Better than expected, even. But now, your time is over."

"What are you?" Faith said, drawing and igniting her lightsaber. "I can tell you aren't really the General, so what the fuck are you?"

"Oh, but I am Kalkos Nalarn," the Nautolan laughed cruelly. "I've just had my eyes opened to my true purpose. I know now who and what I truly am."

"Is that so?" Vira spat. "And what, pray tell, are you?"

"I am a Child of the Emperor himself," Kalkos said. "I carry a part of his vast spirit within me, and I know now that I was but an empty shell of a thing before my true purpose came to be."

"A Child of the Emperor?" Tal asked disbelievingly. "What are you talking about?"

"My memories were altered along with my parents' when I was young. I was taken before the Emperor and given His blessing. I lived my life unaware of my true purpose until but a few minutes ago. Now I serve Him and Him alone."

Faith snorted. "I bet you're just the apple of his eye. What did he think he was gonna gain by possessing a single kid?"

Kalkos laughed coldly. "I am but one of many Children across the galaxy. My siblings are everywhere, just waiting to be awakened to their true purpose. But enough talk. My Father wants the Purge Engine, and you cannot be allowed to interfere with His plans. You have served your purpose, and now you must die."

Kalkos lunged at the trio of companions and slashed widely with his vibrosword. Vira and Tal had to roll to the side to evade the blow, and Faith had to jump over the sword to save her own hide.

There was very little space to maneuver, which worked to Kalkos's advantage. Each of his blows forced Faith and her friends to rearrange themselves. Vira's blaster rifle could only get off a few shots which were either deflected by the sword or absorbed into the white armor, and Tal could barely move his assault cannon.

Belatedly, Faith realized that there was some space to move, but it would mean going back into the Rakata ruins. It was either that or death, so Faith jumped again and retreated back into the dark of the ancient stone edifice.

Faith had to rely solely on the Force now to guide her blade. The light of her weapon was more of a distraction than a help, and she was only just barely holding her own against Kalkos's vicious onslaught.

"You cannot win, little Jedi!" he taunted. "You've failed your Master yet again. Think about that when I strike you down for my Father."

Faith knew he was trying to goad her, and she decided not to give him the satisfaction. Tal and Vira were nowhere to be seen or felt, and Faith suspected that they wouldn't be able to get back inside the ruin without her accompanying them.

She was alone against a superior enemy who wore the face of her old Master, and the thought sent shivers down her spine.

Faith retreated further and further back until she felt a stone wall pressing against her backside.

"End of the line, Jedi," Kalkos snarled. "And now, your end is here."

The expected sword strike did not come, as a hail of blasterfire suddenly poured into Kalkos.

The Rakatan droid advanced on its three legs towards Kalkos. "She is a servant of the Builders," the droid intoned. "You will not obstruct their revenge."

Kalkos snarled with rage and brought down his sword in an overhead chop that broke the droid into two neat halves.

Faith was still in shock that this evil place was working to save her life and barely got up her guard when Kalkos turned away from the downed droid and back to her.

"Now then, where were we?" he asked sadistically.

Four flashes of light from all corners of the room became four more tripedal droids. "You will not harm the bringer of the Builders' revenge," they said as one.

And then they opened fire.

Kalkos Nalarn was a tough soldier, even if he didn't have his armor and his weapon. Faith decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and if these droids wanted to help her, then she'd let them do just that while she got the hell out of there.

Faith ran as fast as she could out of the ruin, and as soon as she was clear of the place, the stone double doors began to seal themselves.

"Let's get outta here! Right fucking now!" Faith shouted.

"No arguments here!" Tal agreed. "Come on!"

The three friends got onto the lift as Vira began inputting the command to take them up.

The ruin hadn't fully sealed itself, and Kalkos flew out of the tiny space between the double doors and leaped towards the lift, which was starting to rise.

The Nautolan caught the edge of the platform as it ascended, his armor burned and smoking from repeated blaster bolts.

"You have lost, Jedi!" he snarled.

"Not yet, we haven't," Faith said without anger as she crouched down. "I'm sorry, Kalkos. You'll see you brother soon, I promise. I hope you both find peace with each other."

Faith put her hands on Kalkos's shoulders and shoved him off the rising platform, but her mind's eye saw something else entirely.

In a brief moment that lasted forever, Faith saw past Kalkos Nalarn into the Child of the Emperor that had taken him over, and what she saw terrified her.

It was a memory from an ancient mind of unfathomable power. A red-skinned Sith with black eyes like a void gathered thousands of other Sith Lords onto a planet that was now long forgotten, but that the memory called 'Nathema.'

The black-eyed Sith somehow dominated the wills of all the others and forced them to undergo an immense ritual of great power that lasted for days.

And then Nathema died. The Force, the very fabric of the universe itself, was sucked dry from the planet along with every living thing down to the smallest bacteria.

All that remained was the black-eyed Sith, imbued with all of the power that he had just depleted from all around him. Faith knew that despite this memory being over a thousand years old, she was seeing more than just the past of the Sith Emperor.

This monstrosity of a person had sucked the life force out of an entire world, and he wasn't done yet. He was going to snuff out every single world, every single life in the entire galaxy if he wasn't stopped.

And he might just use the Purge Engine to follow through on his plans.

"Are you all right, Faith?" Tal asked softly.

Breathing heavily, Faith tried to steady herself. "I don't think I am, Tal. We know where the Purge Engine is now, and I think the Empire does as well."

"What does this mean for us?" Vira asked with a tinge of fear.

"It means that the end is almost definitely nigh," Faith said seriously. "Buckle up, kids. Now comes the hard part."


	29. Buffy XIV - Apology Not Accepted

**Buffy XIV - Apology Not Accepted**

* * *

Buffy strode hastily up the tunnel towards the central cavern of the Dark Killik Hive, eager to get there and get out as quickly as possible. The Rakata ruin had shaken her even further after her earlier encounter with Servant Six of the Emperor's Hand.

Darkness was something that Buffy could handle without a problem, and for all their evident evil, the Rakata were clearly passionate and eager for revenge. The Emperor was cold and unfeeling, which wouldn't be so terrifying if it wasn't so obvious that he had more than enough power to rule his Empire unchallenged for over a thousand years and then some.

The chill of the cavern grew stronger as Buffy approached. She could sense Dalen and Thriss racing to keep up with her, but she wasn't about to slow down and wait for them. Fear was driving her faster than she could remember it ever driving her before.

The relative brightness of the bioluminescent lighting of the central cavern was a stark contrast to the darkness she felt in the Force. Standing at the precipice, Buffy decided to wait for her friends. She didn't think she'd be able to cross the threshold in front of her without them.

Dalen was panting as he came up, hurrying from behind Buffy while Thriss strode calmly forward with her eyes part-way shut. Buffy sensed the Chiss calling on the Force to revitalize herself and Dalen so as to keep up with Lord Sunhome.

"Okay then," Buffy said nervously. "Are we sure we want to do this?"

"If we do not proceed forward, Buffy, we will simply die of thirst and starvation," Thriss said reasonably. "Master your fears, Buffy. Do not let them master you. Is that not what the Sith teach?"

"You are right in theory, Thriss," Dalen said after catching his breath. "I envy your calm right now."

"I find that keeping a calm exterior reassures others, regardless of how I feel internally," Thriss retorted. "We should keep moving."

Buffy nodded. "All right, then. Let's go."

Lord Sunhome stepped into the central cavern and tried to turn her fear into some sort of anger that she could use to embolden herself, but the act was far more difficult than she remembered it being in the past.

Before she could take more than a few steps into the cavern, Buffy noticed that the throne in the center of the room had shifted so that it was now facing towards her. Servant Six sat upon the throne, looking every bit the Master of the Empire, even if Buffy knew he was just a very high-placed minion. Despite Servant Six's presence, it was impossible to ignore the walls lined with hundreds of insectoid Killiks from floor to ceiling.

"I sense that you have succeeded in your task," the cavern spoke. "Have you calculated the Purge Engine's location yet?"

Buffy forced herself to speak. "N-not yet, Master," she said, hating herself for submitting to the man in front of her. "We were going to use our ship's computer to find it."

"I am not your Master, Lord Sunhome," the cavern boomed emotionlessly. "I merely convey and carry out His wishes. And His wish is for you to rendezvous with the Expeditionary Fleet, which is being recalled from its current assignments as we speak. The Republic and the Jedi are very likely aware of the Purge Engine's location, so the commanders of the Expeditionary Fleet will secure the surrounding space.

"You, Lord Sunhome, will command when the time comes to manifest a Sith presence within the weapon itself."

Buffy was stunned into silence. The word 'command' kept repeating itself over and over in her head.

"How do you know that?" Thriss spoke up. "How do you know that the Purge Engine is of a size to support the movements of standard-sized people?"

Buffy felt hundreds of pairs of eyes shift to her apprentice and lover, and she suddenly felt very afraid for Thriss's life.

"My Master has foreseen it," the cavern said slowly. "Just as he has foreseen a great many things."

The fear Buffy had felt for Thriss's life now became a fear for her own life as she felt every eye in the cave refocus on her.

"You will no longer take orders from Darth Thanaton. His demeanor of control and civility is a façade to hide his waning power base. His obsession with a pointless grudge is consuming him more and more each day, and he will be more of a hindrance to the Emperor's goals. Darth Marr, also of the Dark Council, will be in contact with you going forward to relay my Master's wishes.

"Events are now in motion and cannot be slowed by anyone. You will keep up or you will die painfully. Go now, Lord Sunhome, and see that the Emperor's will is done."

Buffy found herself nodding dumbly and then running out of the central cavern and sprinting upwards towards the surface of Alderaan. After getting far enough away from the cumulative darkness of the Rakata ruin and Servant Six, she stopped at a forked path to wait for Dalen and Thriss to catch up to her.

Thankfully, Thriss managed to maintain her own vitality along with Dalen's, and the three Sith were out of the Dark Hive minutes later.

Dalen spoke first. "That was… That was unthinkable! All of it! I like to think that I am fairly well-read in the history of the Dark Side of the Force, but living in such a moment…"

"Take it easy, Shar," Buffy said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe, think, then talk."

"Thank you, Buffy," Dalen said as he caught himself. "That experience was quite harrowing. More and more I wish you had killed me months ago."

"Why is that, Lord Dalen?" Thriss asked kindly. "Surely you don't believe that Buffy would kill a friend?"

"I do not know, and I am uncertain as to what answer would please me greater," Dalen confessed. "No, I fear I have failed as a Sith. I spoke up for myself not once back there, and that Servant did not deign to recognize me in any form. It is in you, Buffy, that the Emperor has personally entrusted one of his most personal designs. I was too much in awe of and afraid of the power in that cave to do anything to actively claim it."

Buffy resisted the urge to smack her former Master upside the head. "Shar, get over it. This is the Emperor of all Sith. Who's to even guess at his logic? Immortality does strange things to people. I get that you're better with the books than with the actual fighting, but just because your god doesn't pick you out of all the Lords of the Sith, that doesn't make you weak. That makes you just like any other Sith out there who didn't get the short straw."

"Short straw?" Thriss asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ugh! Stupid new galaxy!" Buffy cursed. "I just got chosen by a higher power to carry out some great destiny. That means that everything that happens, good and bad, is entirely on me. If everything goes smoothly, the world will go on without noticing whatever great things I might have done. If it doesn't go well, I'll be the one to die most painfully."

Buffy had to resist the urge to shout the word 'again' at the end of each of her sentences. If only Faith was still here to share in the misery.

"It doesn't really matter," Buffy said after taking a moment to compose herself. Dwelling on Faith would do her no good, nor would dwelling on things she couldn't change. "Things are what they are. Now then… Loslar!" she called. "Where did you run off to, little nothing?"

The scrawny red Sith scurried out from behind the speeder that he had parked hours earlier and rushed to prostrate himself before Buffy. "I am here, Master."

"Good boy. Get out your holocomm and patch us through to Dalton Thul. It'd be polite to let him know that we aren't dead."

"As you say, Master," Loslar said as he fished a flat metal cylinder out of his pocket and activated the device.

Dalton Thul's hideous face shimmered into existence. "Ah, you've made it out alive. I was told that you had already received your new orders. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right," Buffy said carefully. "Who told you?"

"Forgive my lack of manners," the Thul lord said politely. "I was just contacted by Darth Marr of the Dark Council, who informed me that Darth Thanaton had become otherwise occupied, and that your mission was now under his purview. Aside from that, all I know is that your ship is to be cleared for departure as soon as possible. Your destination is not my concern, but I would like to know if your business at the Dark Hive will be impacting Alderaanian affairs any further."

"I don't think it will," Buffy said neutrally, "but consider the Hive to be a place of… How do I put this… It's strong with the Dark Side, and I don't think the ones inside it will play nice if anyone interrupts them."

"Understood, my Lord. Is there anything else you require?" Dalton asked.

"I don't think so," Buffy said. "But thanks for the thought. We'll be back soon."

"Very good, my Lord. Thul out."

The communication disengaged, and Loslar replaced the holocom in his pocket.

"Now, before we leave, Loslar, tell me everything you know of what happened down there," Buffy said with quiet venom.

Loslar squirmed under the gaze of his Master. "A-all I know is what I heard you talk about when you came out of the Hive, I swear!"

"I see," Buffy said with a nod of her head. "So you overheard everything the three of us talked about when we got out of there?"

Loslar nodded. "Yes, Master."

Buffy looked to Dalen and Thriss. "Someone this weak with this kind of information is a risk we can't afford. Do you agree?"

Thriss arched a curious eyebrow. "Should he not be safe within the confines of House Thul?"

"You misunderstand, Thriss," Dalen said softly. "Loslar could seek to leverage knowledge of this sort with rivals within the Empire or with other noble houses of Alderaan. House Thul itself is known for its schemes and deceptions. I believe that Buffy is right."

Thriss's face remained calm and impassive, but Buffy felt her rage and fury just under the surface. "Make it fast, Buffy. Don't make him suffer, or you will find your apprentice ready to challenge her Master."

Loslar's dark red skin visibly paled, which Buffy thought was no small feat. "No! N-no!" he cried as he ran away as fast as he could.

Buffy casually unhooked her lightsaber from her belt and tossed it after Loslar. She triggered the activation switch with the Force while the hilt was in midair, and the arc of the blade lopped off Loslar's head before he even realized he was under attack. He was dead before he hit the ground, and he didn't hit the ground until after Buffy's lightsaber disengaged and returned to her outstretched hand.

Thriss let out a small breath. "Thank you, Buffy," she said. "Shall I pilot the speeder back to Thul territory?"

"Actually," Buffy said carefully, weighing her options, "would you mind taking the driver's seat, Dalen? I want to have a bit of a talk with Thriss."

Dalen's anger was palpable at Buffy's slight, but he obeyed without a word. His silence told Buffy more than any fit of anger could have done.

Buffy opened the passenger door. "After you, Thriss."

The Chiss apprentice entered the vehicle and slid over to allow Buffy to get in after her.

Buffy closed the door behind her and suddenly realized just what sort of error she had made with Dalen. Loslar had been of no consequence on the ride over, and so she had paid him no heed. This oversight had prevented Buffy from realizing that the passenger compartment of the speeder was sealed off from the driver's compartment, akin to a limousine from back on Earth.

"You wanted to speak with me, Buffy?" Thriss said coldly as the speeder took off.

"Yeah, I did," Buffy said calmly, hoping to clear the air between them. "I just wanted to make sure that things are okay between us. And did that sound as pathetic to you as it sounded to me?"

Thriss shook her head gently. "You are many things, Buffy, but pathetic will likely never be one of them. I fear I am at fault for expecting you to be the kind of person that you simply are not."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked with crossed arms.

"It means," Thriss said angrily, "that I thought you were a decent person, Buffy! I thought you were a noble warrior who fought for what she believed in, not because she enjoyed killing and torture! I thought you were someone that I could love!"

Thriss had all but shouted that last bit, and now was on the verge of tears.

Buffy recoiled from Thriss's words as if struck by lightning. Did she really come across as a pre-prison Faith?

Buffy shook thoughts of her sister Slayer out of her head and tried to gather her apprentice into her arms for comfort, but she was rebuffed.

"No, don't pretend to care," Thriss said through clenched teeth.

"I do care," Buffy protested. "Look, the thing with Loslar… You never knew him, but he threatened friends of mine for no other reason than because he had the power to do so. He wanted to rise on the backs of others through fear and lies and treachery, and I hated him for it. The people he bossed around became my friends, and then Darth Arctis ordered me to kill them, and I obeyed before I even realized I had done it."

It was now Buffy who was breathing heavily. "I hated them both after that. It was easier to blame Arctis, but Loslar had made my friends suffer even more than Arctis did, and this was before I had ever met them! They could have been great Sith, but they died because I wasn't strong enough to stop truly evil men like Loslar and Arctis."

Thriss looked up at Buffy, her breathing a bit steadier. "You managed to take your revenge on both of them."

"We have a concept where I come from," Buffy explained. "Karma is a philosophy of balance. If you do something good, it will come back to you in the form of someone else being good to you. The same goes for bad deeds. What happened to both Loslar and Arctis was nothing more than karma catching up to them."

"It's more than just the violence," Thriss protested, but she did not stop Buffy from holding her hand this time. "You are more and more favoring Lord Dalen's way of thinking when it comes to how you should be as a Sith. The notion of you following that man's guidance instead of…"

"Instead of yours?" Buffy said pointedly as everything became clear. "You know that I've found both you and Shar attractive, and you were afraid I would leave you for him. Is that it?"

"It's true, isn't it?" Thriss sobbed, all pretense gone.

Buffy had to bite back a laugh. "No, Thriss, it's not true at all. And I'll tell you why: You're stronger than him."

"How? How can I possibly be stronger than a Lord of the Sith?" Thriss asked through tears, but Buffy sensed her hunger for a favorable answer.

"Shar Dalen is above all else a scholar. He likes to study and to read and to learn, and that's all good. As a fighter, he's okay. I'd trust him to have my back in a fight. It's his will that's no longer what it used to be. He's started deferring to me more and more over the past few months, and while that's nice and makes things easier, it also tells me that he's stopped trying to break at least a few of his chains.

"But you, Thriss," Buffy said huskily as she ran a hand over her apprentice's blue face, "you have never lost your fierceness of spirit. You are independent and entirely your own person. You follow me for now, but you don't do so out of submissiveness. You do so to learn and further your own power. Back in that cave with Servant Six, you proved to me that you're more worthy than Dalen of being Sith."

"Tell me how I am worthy," Thriss demanded, her lust for Buffy and her hunger for appreciation almost totally uninhibited.

"You questioned Servant Six. You asked him how he knew about the inside of the Purge Engine. That was more than just a simple question, Thriss. That was a challenge to an extension of the Emperor's will, and you did it with the same cool-headedness that's gotten you this far. You keep cool under pressure, and you let that pressure build up until you're ready to use it to its best effect."

As she described Thriss's very true nature, Buffy couldn't help but think of Faith once again.

"And right now," Buffy said softly with the sexiest smile she could muster, "I want you to take all that pent up pressure and show me exactly how much you want me."

Thriss, ever the good apprentice, obeyed her Master's command without a second thought, and all of the fear and tension of the day was forgotten in the throes of heat and passion.

For a brief moment, Buffy mused on how she missed her sister Slayer, but the heat of the moment quickly drove away all thoughts of Faith from Buffy's mind as she and Thriss immersed themselves in each other.

* * *

The trip through hyperspace had been entirely uneventful. Buffy and Thriss had decided not to rub things in Dalen's face by publicly acknowledging what had transpired in the back of the speeder on Alderaan, while Dalen himself was quietly seething with anger and jealousy over what he knew to be true but was too polite to voice aloud.

Dalen and Thriss had each retired to their own berths, leaving Buffy to supervise the 2V-series droid that was piloting the ship through hyperspace towards the rendezvous point. For whatever reason, Buffy found the bluish-white waves of hyperspace soothing. For all of her passion with Thriss, Buffy felt bad for leaving Dalen out to dry, so to speak. Watching the ship travel took her mind away from things for the short term.

Said short term came to an abrupt end as the droid pushed a lever upward, bringing the ship back into realspace, where the sight of at least a dozen _Harrower_-class dreadnoughts and about fifty smaller ships of varying sizes and shapes awaited them. Buffy found it easier to refer to the large arrowhead-shaped ships – among the most powerful in the Imperial Navy – by their colloquial nickname of 'star destroyers.' It had more flair and was easier to remember than the technical name.

The droid flipped a switch near a small light that had started to blink, opening a communications channel.

"This is Expeditionary Fleet flight control to _Fury_-class transport: Please transmit clearance codes and state your identity," an Imperial-accented woman said from the fleet.

Buffy nodded to the droid, which flipped another switch and then keyed a number of buttons in a sequence.

"This is Lord Sunhome on the transport _Bronze,_" Buffy said. "You should be getting our codes right now. I've also got Lord Dalen and my apprentice with me. She's a Chiss whose full name I honestly have trouble with, but her core name is Thriss, if that helps."

"Thank you, my Lord," the officer said professionally. "Clearance codes and identities confirmed. Welcome to the Expeditionary Fleet, Lord Sunhome. Darth Malgus and Grand Moff Regus expect you to join them on the bridge of _Flame's Shadow_ as soon as possible. Docking protocols are being transmitted to your ship. Do you require a tractor beam to guide you into dock?"

Buffy thought about it. "I have a droid flying the ship, but a human touch can't hurt, just to be safe. The tractor beam would be much appreciated."

"Understood, my Lord. Please hold."

There was a pause of no more than five seconds before the ship started to buckle slightly. The droid killed the engines and let the tractor beam pull them in.

"We have you, Lord Sunhome. Darth Malgus has ordered an escort for you to ensure your arrival meets with no obstructions. Please follow their instructions."

Buffy didn't know who Darth Malgus was, but she did know that one did not earn the title of 'Darth' without significant power and experience. "We hear you loud and clear," Buffy said, attempting to mimic the tone she'd heard in various movies from back home on Earth.

"Very good, my Lord. Flight control out."

The 2V-series droid flipped a switch and cut the communications feed. Buffy watched as the massive dreadnought drew the _Bronze_ into its forward hangar bay, which rested in the middle of the split halves of the fore section of the star destroyer.

Buffy exited the cockpit and headed into the central area of the ship. Thriss's door was slightly ajar, and Buffy sensed that her apprentice was sleeping.

Dalen's door was wide open, and Buffy knocked gently on it, rousing her former Master from a flimsiplast tome he was perusing.

"What is it, Lord Sunhome?" he asked curtly.

Buffy sighed resignedly. "Mind if I come in for a moment?"

Dalen closed his book and set it back on a shelf. "The door is open, is it not?"

Buffy smiled at the minor lesson from home that Dalen seemed to have taken to heart. "I wanted to apologize for how I treated you back on Alderaan," Buffy said. "I know how it must have seemed, but I didn't-"

"Don't apologize to me, Buffy," Dalen said sharply. "A Sith does not justify herself to anyone beneath her. You have your role, and I have mine. That is as it should be."

"Shar!" Buffy groaned, growing increasingly irritated. "Get over yourself! You taught me that the Sith seek out conflict to test themselves against the toughest foes so that they can become strong and powerful in order to break their chains. You're acting far more like a Jedi than a Sith right now, and it's pitiful to watch."

Dalen rose to his feet and stood nose-to-nose with his former apprentice. Rather, he would if they were of an equal height, but Buffy was a good few inches shorter than he was.

"You have some nerve to say such a thing," Dalen hissed slowly. "After all that I have done for you, I expected to be treated with more respect than this!"

Buffy almost slapped Dalen. "You. Are. Sith!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Sith do not accept their place beneath others. They study their enemies, exploit their weaknesses, and rise to greatness on the backs of their corpses. Jedi believe that there is a place for everything in the order that they see in the Force.

"You are Sith!" Buffy shouted again, and Dalen recoiled. "If you want respect and power, then take it! You're my friend, Shar. I won't hurt you, but don't expect me to enable your complacency. It's become a chain. Break it before you fall behind."

Dalen's eyes widened and he sat back down on his bed. "You are right, of course," he said with a small laugh. "It seems I have forgotten how to be a student and assumed that as a Lord, I would be an equal to other Sith. You were right that I have become complacent. Equality is a myth that the Republic and the Jedi perpetuate, and I feel ashamed to have fallen for that lure."

"Don't apologize," Buffy reminded him. "Sith don't do that," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Dalen smiled back. "Right you are, Buffy. Right you are."

The ship shuddered briefly.

"We must have docked. Thriss! Are you awake?" Buffy called.

"Yes," Thriss said groggily. "I'm sorry," she said as she emerged from her cabin.

"Don't apologize," Buffy said with a smile. "Just wake yourself up quickly before the airlock pressurizes."

Thriss smoothed out her clothes and steadied her breathing. "Yes. You are right, of course," she said uneasily.

Buffy stepped closer to her apprentice. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

"What?" Thriss said with mild surprise. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. I just had an unsettling dream about that cave full of Killiks, with all of them looking at me all at once."

"I know," Buffy said. "It's freaky, isn't it?"

Thriss arched a curious brow. "That is one way of putting it. Yes, 'freaky' is an accurate term for the sensation."

A single harsh klaxon sounded to indicate that the airlock had been pressurized.

"All right. Get ready, both of you," Buffy said more curtly than she meant. "We're about to get an escort to meet with some Darth and another guy. Grand Moff something or other."

"Grand Moff Regus is the senior most member of the entire Imperial Navy," Dalen said coolly. "He might not be Sith, but he is about as close to the height of Imperial power as one can be without the gift of the Force. He is relatively new to the position, and the previous Grand Moff – Rycus Kilran – has raised the bar significantly. His death is the Empire's loss. Do you remember the Darth's name?"

"Ugh! Why can't Sith have regular names," Buffy complained. "It was Darth Me Gusta or something like that."

"Me Gusta?" Dalen questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"No, that wasn't it. I want to say it was 'Malice,' but I don't think that's right."

"You wouldn't be referring to Darth Malgus, would you?" Dalen asked.

Buffy snapped her fingers. "That's it!"

"Fascinating," Dalen said. "Darth Malgus is one of the most celebrated heroes of the last war. He was there at the beginning, when the Empire retook Korriban, and also at the end where he led the Sacking of Coruscant and personally destroyed the Jedi Temple there. He is not a man to be trifled with."

Thriss nodded and looked like she was composing herself. "Of course, Buffy," she said in a clear effort to appear calm.

Buffy looked at her apprentice with mild concern, but she didn't want to seem like a mother hen. "Okay, then. Let's go."

Dalen and Thriss fell in behind Buffy as they exited their ship and entered the hallways of the _Flame's Shadow_. A quartet of black-armored soldiers was waiting at the airlock. "This way, my Lord," one of them said.

Buffy nodded her assent to the troopers, and they got underway.

Two soldiers marched in front of her while the other two took up the rear behind Dalen and Thriss.

After traversing a lengthy corridor, they rode a turbolift that seemed to take forever while traveling in every which direction on any given axis at a time.

The lift finally deposited the three Sith on what was obviously the bridge of the mighty warship. The room was massive with dozens if not hundreds of crew stations in tight clusters on the main deck as well as a sub-tier accessible by metal staircases.

The soldiers guided Buffy, Dalen, and Thriss straight forward, past all of the crew stations, to the massive transparisteel window at the front of the room. There stood two people, their backs turned to Buffy. One was an unassuming-looking man who might have been fifty or sixty years old or so. He was dressed in a perfectly-pressed military uniform, and Buffy sensed a sharp resolve in him despite no sensitivity to the Force.

The other man stood in stark contrast to the officer. He had to be over six feet tall, and he wore an imposing black cloak over heavy-looking black armor. His head was completely bald and horrifically scarred. As he turned to face the approaching group, Buffy saw that his lower jaw was covered in some sort of mask that extended upward to cover his nose and mouth.

"That will be all, soldier," the officer said to the armored troops. He had a grey beard that was as neatly trimmed as his suit was smooth.

"My Lords, welcome to the _Flame's Shadow,_ the officer said. "I'm Grand Moff Regus. I'll be commanding the naval activity for the upcoming operation. Darth Marr said that you would have the coordinates?"

Buffy nodded and fished the datapad with the map's information out of her pocket. "Right here," she said.

"I will take that," Darth Malgus said. His voice was harsh and coarse even through the synthesizer that he wore over his mouth. Buffy could tell that he had seen more than his share of action, and she sensed that he enjoyed battle a great deal. The yellowish tint of his eyes also told her that he was incredibly strong in the Dark Side of the Force.

"Here you are then, Darth Malgus," she said politely as she handed him the pad.

"You've been told who we are. Good. That will leave more time for planning the assault. What can you tell us about the Purge Engine itself?" Malgus asked.

"Not a lot," Buffy said. Despite Malgus's immense physical presence, she was not intimidated. Compared with the cavern of the Dark Hive back on Alderaan, this man was nothing. "I know that it's big enough to have an inside to it that people can walk around in. So, maybe it's a space station?"

"That is quite possible. Probable, even," Malgus said coolly as a crewman appeared quickly to take the pad from the Sith Lord's hand. "Input this data and extrapolate a location, then send three scout ships to the destination for a class-five reconnaissance mission. Time is of the essence."

The crewman simply bowed with a 'Yes, my Lord,' and walked back to his post. These people were obviously professionals, Buffy realized, and had probably served with Malgus long enough to know to simply do as they were told without question.

"Word of your deeds precedes you all," Malgus said neutrally. "It is rare to find a Sith so young and so small who possesses such power as I sense in you," Malgus said to Buffy. "It shows in your actions. Your ascension to Lordship has come far more quickly than most, Sunhome. Your choice of a Chiss apprentice also does you credit."

Thriss took a small step forward. "You are not opposed to 'aliens' becoming Sith, Darth Malgus?" she asked

"On the contrary," Malgus said to Buffy's great surprise. "If the Empire is to succeed, it will need to accept whatever weapons it can use against its enemies. I sense great power in all of you, and I cannot imagine any worthy Sith taking an apprentice who could not surpass her one day. Regardless of your species or birth station, all three of you are worthy servants of the Empire."

"Forgive me, my Lord," Dalen said carefully, "but why do you believe that the Purge Engine is likely to be a space station?"

Malgus did not answer immediately. "Grand Moff, if you would resume your normal duties?"

Buffy sensed minor frustration from the Moff, but he bowed crisply all the same. "As you wish, my Lord," he said before walking away calmly.

"Now then," Malgus said slowly as he affixed his unnatural yellow eyes on Dalen, "the reason I believe the Purge Engine to be a space station is because I have encountered another space station built by the Rakatan Infinite Empire in recent months. The Emperor had been keeping a captive Jedi Master in stasis for three centuries, seeking to break his will over time. To the Jedi's credit, he managed to withstand the Emperor for all that time until a Republic strike team infiltrated the prison and freed him.

"The Jedi Master then fled to the Rakatan space station I mentioned. It is known as the Foundry, and it is capable of producing war droids en masse purely through the power of the Force, requiring minimal to zero base construction materials. The Jedi Master intended to use the Foundry to make an army large enough to topple the Empire."

"I'm guessing that this Jedi isn't still a problem?" Buffy asked inquired.

"You guess correctly," Malgus said calmly. "I handpicked a strike team to assault the Foundry and its Master. While the mission was a success, the Jedi Master's fate is a mystery. By all reports, Revan vanished in a flash of light as he was struck down, leaving no body to be recovered."

Buffy recognized the name instantly, and she looked to Dalen to see him struggling to keep his face neutral.

"Your thoughts betray you, Lord Dalen," Malgus said coolly. "The so-called Revanite cult on Dromund Kaas has been dismantled since you last visited the compound there. While the leaders were executed, too many Sith and Imperial forces were and are in vital roles, serving throughout the entirety of the Empire. The Dark Council decided that with a soon-to-come declaration of Revan's death, his followers will simply be fully integrated back into the greater whole of the Empire. Those that don't will be killed, but those who prove themselves will be allowed to live."

Dalen's face had gone pale, but he was managing to keep up a calm exterior.

"Count yourself fortunate that you still live, Lord Dalen," Malgus said. "Had the Emperor perceived an actual threat of any sort from the Revanites, we would both be dead now."

Now Buffy's head whirled around to face Malgus again. "You were a… What did you call them? You were a Revanite?"

"Only so far as I learned from and admired Darth Revan's example," Malgus elaborated. "He was no divine entity as some believed, but merely a very powerful individual with a rare understanding of both the light and dark sides of the Force.

"And now, the time for idle conversation is over, Lord Sunhome," Malgus said ominously. "I have been told that you will lead the strike team that will secure the Purge Engine. There will be thirty other Sith under your command, excepting Lord Dalen and your apprentice, along with a large complement of Imperial troopers. The size of that force will be dependent on what our scouts report regarding the size of the installation."

Buffy's jaw dropped open at the notion that she would be commanding an army of Sith. She hadn't personally led a force that size since the collapse of Sunnydale, and the thought of a similar battle approaching had her anxious. She could work with anxiety and turn it into anger to use against her enemies.

"I suggest you take the time to meet with those you will be commanding," Malgus added. "Learn their strengths and their weaknesses. Spar with them if you must, but waste not another minute. I will have someone show you to the training area of the ship. Go now."

Buffy nodded and turned around to find a uniformed man with a single red officer's bar waiting for her.

"This way, my Lord."

"Lead on," Buffy said as she fell in behind her escort.

While they walked, Buffy gently took Dalen's hand. "Are you going to be all right, Shar?"

"I hope so, Buffy," he said carefully. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Between the Emperor and now Revan, I really should stop believing in legends and accept reality for what it is."

"Legends have power," Thriss said sagely. "You taught me that a Sith's power is as much how others perceive him as it is anything else. If you appear strong, then you become strong in the minds of others. Having actual strength to back it up, of course, is entirely helpful."

Dalen nodded his understanding. "You are right, of course. We're about to do battle at the personal bequest of the Emperor. This is no time for doubts or second thoughts."

"This is no time for much of anything at all," Buffy countered. "I have a feeling that this is going to be bigger than any of us are seeing right now. If we were back home, I'd say it was May."

"What do you mean?" Thriss inquired. "What is 'May?'"

"May," Buffy said carefully, "is a time of the year back home on Earth when powerful forces come together to do battle, and the fate of the entire world is at stake."

Buffy felt Dalen's anticipation build inside of him. "You believe this coming battle to be of such great importance."

"Something like that," Buffy said. "Without a doubt, there will be a huge showdown at the Purge Engine, and whatever happens there, I don't think anything will ever be the same again."


	30. Faith XIV - Leading Onward

**Faith XIV - Leading Onward**

**_WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for the final mission for the Jedi Knight class story in The Old Republic._**

* * *

Faith was still trying to recover from her showdown with the Child of the Emperor that had once been Kalkos Nalarn. The lift was taking its time getting them back up to something resembling the surface of Balmorra, and Faith had just relayed to Tal and Vira the brief glimpse she'd had into the mind of the Emperor.

"That's just… It doesn't make any sense!" Tal said vehemently.

Faith tried to keep her cool, but it wasn't easy when the easygoing major was starting to flip out.

"It's damned chilling if you ask me," Vira said. "What's the point of killing everyone in the galaxy? Who's he gonna rule over if there's no one left?"

Faith shook her head. "I have no idea. Maybe he'll become so powerful that he can travel to another galaxy and take it over. Or maybe he'll just keep going until the entire universe is dead. If you want my honest opinion, I think he's afraid."

Vira laughed without humor. "If the Emperor is so powerful, what does he have to be afraid of?"

"Think about it," Faith said. "This guy has all this power. He's spent hundreds of years gaining power for himself and building up his Empire so that he can kill even more people. The Republic is made up of individual people working to better themselves, but the people of the Empire exist only to serve the Emperor and to kill people for him. I bet most of the Imps and the Sith don't even realize that they're nothing more than tools. Just think about all the effort that the Emperor has gone to in order to get this far.

"Now, if I was in his shoes, I'd consider that a significant investment, and I would be scared to hell of losing it all. It wouldn't matter if anyone could actually take it from me. Just the thought of losing my life's work would be enough to drive me mad."

Tal snorted. "Sounds like the Emperor _is_ mad."

"Yeah, well power does that to people," Faith said, remembering her own rush of sensation when she'd killed Allan Finch way back when. She hadn't had any real power over life and death, but just thinking that she had the power was intoxicating enough. For someone with real power… The Emperor was probably incapable of understanding anyone else in the galaxy.

"So, what exactly did he do to the General?" Vira asked. "What was he?"

"I don't know, exactly," Faith said. "When we arrived, he was Kalkos Nalarn, plain and simple. He was a man who loved his brother while resenting the Order he joined. He was a soldier who cared about his troops, and he wanted to help us."

"And when we got out of the ruin?" Tal ventured carefully.

"When we got out, the Emperor had taken him over, only not quite," Faith said. "I'm not sure, but what I felt was still Kalkos Nalarn, but also something else. I think he was telling the truth: the Emperor put a bit of himself into the General, and he went about life without even knowing that he was a walking camera that was broadcasting straight into the Emperor's head."

Vira let out a long, slow whistle. "And when the Emperor saw us ready to make a move on the Purge Engine, he what? He flipped a switch inside the General?"

"Something like that," Faith said. "It wasn't a full possession, but it was enough to twist him into a totally different person, and I don't know if there would have been a way to save him. I did feel him die, and I can only hope that he and Ralto are together in whatever passes for Heaven in this galaxy."

"What's Heaven?" Tal asked.

Faith let out a long sigh. "A myth from back home that might not be a myth. It's the place where all good souls go to when they die. An eternal paradise for those who are righteous and charitable and kind, all that happy stuff."

"Most societies have a myth like that," Vira said. "Why do you think it might not be a myth?"

"Because," Faith said as the lift finally started to slow, "I know someone who might've been there." Thoughts of her sister Slayer threatened to overwhelm her already harried mind, but the fantasy of Buffy coming to help and fight alongside her was so great that Faith almost let herself believe it would happen.

But Buffy was long gone. If she was alive, Faith would know about it. Even though logic told her one thing, a little voice in the depths of her soul was whispering words of encouragement that Faith dared not listen to for fear of having her heart broken.

"Faith," Tal offered warmly.

"Sorry," Faith said. "That's all you get from me on that today. I'll fill you in later, promise."

Thankfully, Tal and Vira let the matter go, and Faith readied herself to explain to the troops patrolling the Colicoid nests what had happened to General Kalkos Nalarn. This was so beyond anyone's pay grade that Faith wanted to contact Coruscant, Tython, or both before telling anyone anything for certain.

"Let's get back to the ship," Faith said. "We need to talk to people in high places, and we need to make sure that the Empire doesn't get to the Purge Engine first."

* * *

"This is so much bullshit, I don't even know where to begin!" Faith screamed.

"You don't know the whole story, Faith," Tal said reasonably.

Faith shot a glare at Tal that would have cowed a lesser man. "Satele Shan is not the kind of Jedi who orders others around and expects them to obey without question. Something is up."

Vira looked nervous. "Well, I'm in no place to question the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, but if she says to meet her at Carrick Station, then I say meet her there. There are some things that probably aren't safe to say except in person. I was watching her, though. She was listening very carefully, Faith."

Faith wanted to scream at the lack of information, but she made herself remember a breathing exercise that she'd taught herself back in prison. "All right. Tal, how long will it take us to get there?"

"A few minutes, tops," Tal said. "We're already fairly close to Tython, but I'm guessing Master Shan is already at the station, judging by the strength of the signal. I'll get us going right away."

"Thanks, Tal. Let's get some damned answers!" Faith said as she followed the Major to the cockpit of the _Thunderclap_-class transport.

The stars extended into lines and then they were catapulted into the blue-white otherworld of hyperspace.

"This never feels strange?" Faith asked. "All of this?" she said, waving her arm around the periphery of the cockpit window.

"Not really," Tal said. "I guess I've gotten used to it."

The next few minutes passed in companionable silence, broken only by Vira joining them after cleaning her blaster. Faith silently wondered what Buffy would think of hyperspace.

"Approaching the station," Tal reported. "Coming out of hyperspace now."

The ship dropped back into realspace.

"Holy shit!" Faith said quietly.

Vira let out a low whistle.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Tal said.

The cockpit window was filled with more ships than Faith had ever seen in one place at a time. She had been to Carrick Station once before, just after departing Tython for the first time, and while it had definitely been protected by not a few large starships, Faith was unsure if she should be referring to the mass of ships as a fleet or as multiple fleets.

"We're receiving instructions," Tal reported. "Text only. Orders are to proceed to dock with the cruiser _Light-bringer_ and meet up with Master Shan there."

"Do we know it's really her?" Vira asked.

"Umm…" Tal said awkwardly.

"Spill it, Tal," Faith ordered.

"Well," Tal said carefully, "the message said to dock with the _Light-bringer_ after the conclusion of any, um… Earth-based relaxation techniques? Faith, do you know what that means?"

Faith chuckled an evil sound that caused her to sense great unease in both of her companions. "The message is legit. Let's just say that the last time Master Satele called the ship, you were both busy relieving each other's after-battle stress. That communicator really does have an _excellent_ microphone, y'know?"

"Oh, Force!" Vira groaned.

"I second that," Tal also groaned.

Faith slapped the big man on the shoulder. "Come on, tough guy! We have a job to do, people to meet. This is no time for getting distracted, is it? That was a while ago, if I recall."

"Shut up, Faith," Vira said weakly.

"I'll take us in," Tal said. "Jedi are all about mercy and understanding, right?"

"Something like that," Faith said with a smirk.

* * *

The conference room aboard the _Light-bringer_ was filled to capacity by the time Faith arrived with Tal and Vira. There were a number of Republic military officers, all of them with a large number of officer's bars, along with a smaller number of robed figures that had to be Jedi Knights. Satele Shan stood at the head of the table in her usual sleeveless tunic.

Unlike the other times Faith had met the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, there was a large lightsaber hilt strapped to Satele Shan's belt. Its design led Faith to believe that both ends were meant to be ignited.

Satele raised one hand, and the room quieted down instantly. Faith guessed it was a small trick of the Force.

"Now that we are all here, we can finalize preparations for what we hope will bring an end to this war, once and for all," Satele said. "Before we begin, I would like for Jedi Faith Lehane to report on her most recent encounter. Faith?"

All eyes in the room turned to Faith, and the Slayer-Jedi was suddenly very conscious of how many important people were about to base their plans for the fate of the galaxy on what she was about to say.

"Well," Faith began uneasily, "Tal and Vira and I… I mean, Major Cortland and Lieutenant Septus and I… We've been on the trail of some ancient weapon of some kind called the Purge Engine. It was built by some aliens called the Rakata, and they had an Empire that was around before the Republic existed. They left ruins and temples and such behind, and those have given us a definite location for the Purge Engine, we think."

"You think?" a military officer asked snidely.

"Yes, I think," Faith shot back. "Forgive me for wanting to share the details with all of you first before jumping to any conclusions. Major Cortland, would you kindly hand Master Shan the data we recovered?"

"Yes, ma'am," Tal said as formally as he could as he strode over to hand the datapad to Master Satele.

"We don't know what the Purge Engine does," Faith said, "but we do know that the Rakata meant it as some sort of revenge, but we don't know against who. They were major users of the Dark Side of the Force, and their tech even needed the Force to use. And also, there's a second party that's also on the trail of the Purge Engine. If you guys don't know who it is, then I'd guess it's the Sith who are looking for it. If they are, then they know everything about its location that we do."

"Thank you, Faith," Satele said. "Now then-"

"I'm sorry, Master, but there's more," Faith said carefully.

"What more is there to hear?" the same officer asked pompously. "We have the location, we know that the Empire is after this weapon. Do we really need to know more?"

"Yeah, you do," Faith said. "Here's an idea: why don't you shut the fuck up and let me finish giving you the info that might save your ass, and then you can be a dick about it when I'm done."

"I do not have to put up with this!" the officer said.

"Colonel Salda, do yourself a favor and stop digging your grave any deeper," an armored man standing next to Satele said calmly.

"I-I'm sorry, Supreme Commander!" the man said nervously.

Faith's eyes widened. Supreme Commander Rans was a name that Faith only knew because she had decided to study up on galactic affairs after Master Ralto's death, and the notion of the most powerful military officer in the Republic coming to her aid was a shock.

"Please continue, Jedi Faith," the commander said.

"Thank you, sir," Faith said carefully. "So, yeah. There's more. Are any of you familiar with General Kalkos Nalarn?"

A number of nods and murmurs of understanding passed through the room.

"Okay, good. You know him, then," Faith said. "He was a great help on Balmorra. He got us to the map that told us where the Purge Engine is, and then he tried to kill us. Don't! Even. Start," Faith said to Colonel Salda before he could speak up again. "Turns out that he was something called a 'Child of the Emperor.' Basically, the Emperor took a bunch of kids from across the galaxy when they were young, wiped their memories and those of their parents, and then put a bit of himself into the kids before letting them back into the galaxy."

"I don't mean to be rude," Colonel Salda said, "but I am afraid I don't understand."

"I'll explain from here," Satele said. "The Sith Emperor instilled a part of his spirit into an unknown number of people from across the galaxy. These people are innocents who are completely unaware of what the Emperor has done to them. Unfortunately, they also share everything they experience with the Emperor, again without their realization. In recent months, the Emperor has been activating his Children, causing the part of his spirit inside of them to become dominant over the individual. The innocent victim is turned into a willing servant of the Emperor who knows his wishes and his will."

"So any one of us could be an agent of the Empire and not even know it?!" another officer burst out.

"We cannot afford to let our fears rule us," Satele said calmly. "We must trust in each other and act as we would normally. Second-guessing ourselves will only lead to panic. The important thing to take away from this is that the Emperor has a personal interest in the Purge Engine."

That got a reaction out of the room in the form of a silence so thick that Faith could have sworn it was choking her.

"We have also learned why the Emperor would be interested in a potential doomsday weapon," Satele said. "One of our Knights recently gained the allegiance of a highly-placed Sith with personal access to the Emperor himself. This Sith has been kept alive for over three centuries by the Emperor, and he has been waiting for the opportunity to defect for all that time. He revealed to us that the Emperor plans to extend his long life even further by instigating a ritual that will consume every living thing in the galaxy. From the largest space slug to the smallest bacteria, nothing will survive. The Force itself will be consumed if the Emperor succeeds."

That tracked with what Faith knew, but she hadn't heard about a Sith defector. Then again, it wasn't as if she was the only Jedi out there trying to help out in the galaxy. Whoever got this Sith to defect was probably quite the badass.

"We have also learned," Satele continued, "that in order to begin this ritual, several simultaneous deaths are required. Nothing less than the population of a planet will be enough to kick-start the Emperor's ritual, and attempts have already been thwarted on Belsavis, Voss, and Corellia."

"And you think that the Emperor is gonna use the Purge Engine to try again?" Faith guessed.

"Precisely," Satele said. "This is why our plan has to succeed. We have to make sure that the Emperor is stopped permanently. Master Oteg will command one fleet and lead an attack on the Purge Engine. If there is to be a boarding action or a landing party, depending on the nature of the weapon, then Jedi Lehane will lead that group."

"What?!" Faith was shocked.

"You know the situation best, Faith. You've been on this journey from the start, and you're the most logical choice to see it through to its conclusion. Are you up for it?"

Faith almost laughed. "I guess I have to be, don't I? Don't worry, Master Satele. We'll get the job done."

"Excellent. Those of you under Master Oteg's command, you'll need to have your ground troops coordinate with Jedi Lehane, and a number of Jedi will also be accompanying you. The Sith are likely to match or exceed us in numbers, so we have to be ready for them."

"As for the rest of us," Commander Rans said, "while Master Oteg and Jedi Lehane will be neutralizing the Purge Engine, the bulk of the Republic Navy will be undertaking its most ambitious mission perhaps ever. We're going after the Emperor himself. Master Shan and I will be commanding a combined assault on Dromund Kaas, and a landing party will locate and confront the Emperor."

"The Jedi I mentioned earlier," Satele said, "will be leading the ground team on Dromund Kaas."

Faith saw Satele nod to a robed figure. Faith couldn't tell what species the Knight was, or even what gender. What she felt in the Force, however, told her that this Jedi knew the score and would do what had to be done.

"Hopefully, we can distract the Emperor and keep him off guard," Satele said. "He will be forced to divide his personal attention between his ritual and his own safety. Hopefully this will be enough to allow us to defeat the Sith Empire once and for all. Commander Rans and I will attempt to answer any questions you have, and then we'll go into the more detailed planning for each operation."

The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur, with most of the focus being placed on penetrating the defenses surrounding Dromund Kaas. Faith felt quite lost, but ended up fielding a few questions from some of the officers she'd be working with. Most of the Jedi were also interested in what she had to say.

Tal and Vira also provided insight on how someone without Force sensitivity could react to an encounter with the Force. The meeting seemed to go on for hours without end, and Faith was starting to feel the pressure even more keenly than when she had first entered the room.

"All right, that's enough for today," Commander Rans said at last. "Everyone, get back to your own ships and get some rest. We'll coordinate with our specific operational teams starting tomorrow. Anything I'm forgetting?"

"One last thing," Faith said, almost without realizing she had even said anything. "If you've ever fought the Sith and think you know what you're getting into, don't delude yourself. I've only glimpsed a tiny bit of the Emperor's power, and he is so out of all our collective leagues… Just don't go into this with any delusions of an easy victory, okay? We're gonna have to work for this. At least one other person in this room knows what I'm talking about."

The other Jedi Knight, the one who would be leading the assault on the Emperor, nodded grimly in acknowledgment of Faith's words.

"Very well, then," Satele said. "Let's rest and prepare for the ordeal ahead of us. May the Force be with us all."

Faith walked between Tal and Vira back to their own ship in the hangar bay. "You two ready for this?" she asked them.

"Damned if I know," Vira said. "I'm kinda offended that they don't think we're up for taking on Dromund Kaas. All the same, I don't wanna go anywhere near there if I can help it."

"Same goes for me," Tal said. "They're going to need every last ship the Republic can spare if they even want to get a single shuttle onto the surface. The fact that they're giving us so many ships means a whole lot more than it would normally. Are we ready, though? I guess we'll have to be, like you said."

"Whatever happens next," Faith said with a smile, "I'm glad I have you two watching my back. And you know that I have yours, right?"

"Sure do," Tal said.

"Until the end," Vira said.

"Damn straight!" Faith said. "And whatever that end is, it's coming up fast. Rest up, boys and girls! We've got a big day ahead of us, and I don't think anything will ever be the same once it's done."


	31. Interlude - There They Are

**Interlude - There They Are**

* * *

Buffy woke up.

Her eyes opened and she sat up in her luxurious bed with its black and red silk sheets. On either side of her, Thriss and Dalen slept peacefully.

Buffy frowned in disgust at the notion. "Peace is a lie," she said to herself as she propelled herself out of bed with the Force and landed on her feet.

The room she was in was not one she was familiar with. It vaguely resembled her house back in Sunnydale, but there was nothing soft or girly about this room. Save for the bed, everything was hard and cold. The walls were dull and gray.

A door stood ajar, inviting Buffy to step outside.

Buffy drew her lightsaber, but did not ignite it yet. She crept out of her room and down the hallway.

The walls of the hall shimmered from white to black to gray and back again without end. Every now and then, the briefest flash of an image would appear. There was Dalen, then Thriss, then a blue-skinned Nautolan.

Buffy crept further down the hall as images continued to flash before her. A red-haired woman, a large, dark-skinned man, Darth Arctis, a Jedi woman in a sleeveless tunic, Servant Six, and many others all made appearances as she trekked down the hall as stealthily as she could.

An open door waited at the end of the hall, and a white glow was shining from within. Buffy was so used to fighting in the dark that she had to squint to ready herself to do battle in the light. And battle was what was waiting, of that there was no doubt. There was always battle waiting.

After all, there is only passion.

* * *

Faith woke up.

Her eyes told her that she was in a room that vaguely resembled the apartment the Mayor had given her once upon a time. Unlike that place, there was no luxurious furniture, no PlayStation, and even the bed was a simple cot.

Behind her, Faith saw Tal and Vira holding each other silently, neither of them moving much at all.

"Huh," Faith said with mild surprise. "There is no emotion."

Rising up from her bed, Faith slid out from under the covers, stood up, and stretched.

She looked to the open door at the front of the apartment.

"Someone's coming," Faith realized. "Better get ready."

A soft blue blanket was quickly fetched and laid down on the floor. Faith didn't know what her guest would like to eat, so she put out only a pair of glasses and a pitcher of water.

Faith sat down cross-legged next to the blanket while facing the door, closed her eyes, and began to meditate.

Bits of knowledge floated through her mind, and Faith thought that she could make out a few images here and there. There was Master Ralto, and Master Satele, too. A human man about her age in Sith attire, and then a Chiss woman with a gun and a staff strapped to her back.

Then there was Tal, and then Vira, and Colonel Walburn too. A shriveled and decrepit Sith Lord, and then a Jedi lost to grief and madness. A young red Sith fleeing from something, and then a mighty-looking human man with a mask over his nose and mouth.

Faith's guest grew closer, and she opened her eyes to greet whoever would walk through that door. They would talk and drink and enjoy each other's company.

After all, there is peace.

* * *

One Slayer stepped through a door, and another Slayer stood up to greet her.

"Been a long time, B," Faith said. "How've you been?"

"Oh, you know how it is," Buffy answered. "I've been branching out a bit. Growing, expanding, evolving. All very time-consuming."

"I hear ya," Faith said. "I've been chillin'. Made some friends, made some enemies, saved a day or two. Not like you, though."

"Not remotely," Buffy said carefully. Her finger was ready to flip the switch and activate her lightsaber, but this was Faith.

But was it really Faith? Yes, this was her old apartment, but it was different somehow. It didn't feel like the Faith she knew belonged here.

"You gonna use that, Buffy? I gotta say, getting stabbed in this place once was more than enough."

"Enough is never enough," Buffy hissed. "You couldn't understand."

"Can't I?" Faith retorted calmly. "Power. You think you have it, you're scared you'll lose it, so you look for more. Only thing is that then, you're even more scared. The more you have, the more you can lose. You don't settle for what you got, you'll never find peace."

"Peace is a lie!" Buffy snarled, and now she did activate her lightsaber.

"You can't win, B," Faith said calmly as Buffy stalked closer to her.

Buffy laughed cruelly. "Watch me."

Faith shook her head. "You don't get it, B. There is no death. There's only the Force. You strike me down, I become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

"Shut up!"

"Just calling it like it is, B."

"Enough!"

A slash of red light across Faith's chest brought the Slayer-Jedi down.

Buffy crouched down and slid Faith onto her back. She wanted to look into her eyes and see the fear in them.

"Oh, Buffy," Faith sighed softly. "It's beautiful."

"What?" This didn't make sense. "What are you talking about?"

"Heaven," Faith said serenely. "It's calling to me. You remember that peace, don't you?"

"Shut up! You… You can't possibly have that!" Buffy shrieked. "After everything you've done-"

"After all that, huh?" Faith said. "Yeah, I'm more surprised than anyone. But I gotta go now, B. Don't worry, though. I'll see you around. There is no death, remember? Only the Force."

Faith's body began to glow, and the light was growing to be too bright for Buffy to see.

"No," Buffy cried fearfully. "No, don't leave me! I'm so sorry, Faith! I didn't know!"

"It's okay, Buffy," an otherworldly voice said softly. "It's all gonna be okay."

"No, it's not!" Buffy cried out, falling to her knees. "This can't be the end. I killed you, but this can't be the end.

"It's not the end," Faith said calmly.

"You don't understand!" Buffy cried.

"Faith! I love you!"

A soft white glow caressed Buffy's cheek, and she felt her skin burn against Faith's touch.

"I know."

As Faith began to glow all the brighter, Buffy felt another presence and turned to face the new threat.

A bald man in American-style clothes with glasses held a large round plate of neatly arranged yellow squares.

Buffy turned back to look at Faith, but the other Slayer was shining ever brighter. At last, Faith flashed into bright white oblivion, and Buffy felt herself burning in the harsh, blinding light

"The cheese will be with you," the bald man said. "Always."

* * *

Buffy woke up with a start in her VIP suite aboard the _Flame's Shadow_, gasping for breath.

At the same moment, Faith jolted awake in her own bed aboard Tal's Thunderclap.

Light years apart, two Slayers took a moment to assess their respective situations. Things were not as they were when they had fallen asleep.

Faith's looked to her right hand, which held a very familiar pole-axe type of weapon in a shade of blue that shouldn't belong there, and yet it felt right as she held it.

Buffy looked to her left hand and saw a remarkably familiar dagger. Two-pronged and curved, the blade was affixed to a curvy red handle that easily fit into her palm, as if it was meant to be there.

Neither Buffy nor Faith slept the rest of the night.

Tomorrow, everything would change.


End file.
